


Avatar: the Legend of Goku

by Doodleboy565



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender, Dragon Ball
Genre: Adventure & Romance, Comedy, Crossover, Crossover Pairings, F/M, FanFiction.Net, Fanfiction, Fantasy, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-05
Updated: 2020-05-27
Packaged: 2020-06-10 20:15:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 71,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19514491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Doodleboy565/pseuds/Doodleboy565
Summary: After defeating King Piccolo, a 15-year-old Son Goku has agreed to train with Kami and his assistant, Mr. Popo, on the Lookout in preparation for the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai in 3 years. However, due to an accident that took place in the Lookout's mysterious Time Room, Goku has been whisked away to a world ravaged by a 100-year-long war. Will Goku find a way home?*Avatar: the Last Airbender is created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. It is owned by Viacom Media Networks and Nickelodeon.*Dragon Ball is created by Akira Toriyama and is owned by Toei Animation, Fuji TV, and Funimation Productions, LLC.





	1. Time Displacement

Peace. That was the condition of the world at this point in Age 753, the year Demon King Piccolo was finally vanquished. Through the efforts of a 15-year-old monkey boy named Son Goku, the terror Piccolo purged on the Earth over 300 years prior was swiftly put to a brutal, yet satisfying end in a prolonged one-on-one fight to the death. However, unbeknownst to many, the devious Daimao reincarnated himself in the form of a son; an offspring bearing his likeness that would seek vengeance on both Goku and the entire planet as it is now. In response to this predestined plot for revenge, Kami, the self-proclaimed guardian of the Earth and the good half of what used to be the Nameless Namekian, called upon the naïve Saiyan to spend the next 3 years leading up to the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai training on his Lookout above Korin’s Tower. This Lookout is a semi-spherical platform that seemingly floats above the clouds surrounding the Sacred Land of Korin down below, housing a massive palace containing mystical properties such as the yet-to-be-seen Room of Spirit and Time. With such an awe-inspiring spectacle such as this, what secrets will help the ever-adventurous Goku grow strong enough to defeat the descendant of his most deadly adversary? Quite a few will definitely do the trick, but some might hinder his progress in more ways than anyone could be aware of, even the seemingly all-knowing Kami himself. 

“Hyaaah!” shouted Goku in the process of letting loose one of his many powerful punches. His black spiky hair flows backward in response to the gust of wind that permeated from his high-speed charge, eyes narrowed in sheer determination and lust for the thrill of combat. Wearing his trademark orange dogi marked with the symbol of Master Roshi, the Turtle Hermit, small scuffs and burns surround his entire body, most likely a result of certain spars like this one. Whether these small intrusions hurt or not doesn’t matter to the youthful martial artist though. As long as he has a good fight, pain is completely secondary to the sensation of battle bar none. Goku’s small, yet stone-hard fist surges forward, but is swiftly blocked by an open palm tinged with pitch black skin. 

“Too slow, young one. Try again.” scolded Goku’s opponent in a calm monotone voice. He is a short, rotund man wearing a maroon vest with two golden bands surrounding both of his arms and a crimson sash wrapped completely around his torso. The individual also sports a pair of white pants matched by a pair of red and white Middle Eastern slippers. On top of his head, a white turban is firmly wrapped above his forehead with a blue diamond positioned in its center while two elfin ears are encircled by yellow earrings. As shown with his hand, the creature’s skin is almost 100% black, contrasting nicely with the deep red of his ever-smiling lips. This eccentric character is Mr. Popo, Kami’s personal assistant and the Lookout’s eternal caretaker. He is tasked with surveying Goku’s training regiment while Kami’s attends to his duties as guardian. Said surveillance includes constant hand-to-hand combat exercises such as this. 

“Take this!” yelled Goku as he attempted to release a swift kick to Popo’s unprotected leg area. His leg makes contact with Popo’s shin, almost sending the charcoal-skinned genie to the tiled ground. Gasping at the speed of his new pupil, Popo retaliates by leaning back with his more secure leg and sending a downward haymaker straight into the porcupine-haired boy’s face. POW! Not seeing this coming, Goku is sent flying to the other side of the circular platform back first. In a split second, Goku does a backwards somersault to maintain his balance, placing his feet just near the tip of the Lookout’s edge. Sighing in relief, Goku succumbs to the fatigue of Mr. Popo’s attack and slumps down on his butt, wiping the sweat off his forehead with one arm. 

“That’s good enough for today, Goku. You may rest now.” announced Mr. Popo with a satisfied smile on his face. Goku’s round eyes widen in excitement at the mention of a break and his battle-ready stare is quickly replaced with a big, toothy grin. He jumps up onto his feet and brushes the dust off of his pants, his brown, bushy tail twirling around in anticipation for the one thing Goku loves more than fighting: food. 

“You really got me good there, Mr. Popo. I really thought I got you that time!” beamed Goku as he scratched the back of his spiked head sheepishly. Mr. Popo pulled up his pant leg to inspect the damage of Goku’s latest kick, noticing a purple oval-shaped bruise near his shin area. Pleased with the results, Mr. Popo closes his eyes and nods happily to the Saiyan child.

“Don’t sell yourself short, Goku. That kick was most impressive. I would say you’re getting closer to surpassing me than you think.” revealed Mr. Popo to the impressionable Goku. Not expecting this amount of praise, Goku raises his clenched fists near his shoulders and begins to grin even more so than before. 

“Really?! That’s great! Does that m-“ Goku’s child-like wonder is suddenly interrupted by what sounds like the roar of a dying Velociraptor. It continues to permeate through the air until Goku notices the source of the ailing noise is his empty stomach, resulting from not eating since lunchtime over 6 hours ago. Mr. Popo sweat drops in response to Goku’s insatiable hunger while Goku simply pats his stomach in confusion. 

“Come, Goku. We’ll be eating with Kami today.” Mr. Popo chided as he motioned Goku with his almost cylindrical fingers. At the utterance of eating, Goku quickly ran towards the side of Mr. Popo, thoughts of rich delicacies circling inside of his completely dense mindscape. 

In Kami’s personal quarters, a complete polar opposite of what used to be King Piccolo’s domain lies in waiting. As opposed to the skull décor of the Daimao’s throne, Kami has a pure white seating area tipped with strips of gold plating similar to the palace roof. Instead of spikes, gold domes extend outwards in the left and right directions. Positioned squarely in the center of the large chair is the Guardian of Earth himself, a wrinkly green slug-like organism with pointed ears just like Mr. Popo’s. Around his neck, a blue cloak is placed, extending backward as a sort cape from the shoulders down. Wearing a white garment with the Japanese kanji for “God” written on it in red lettering, Kami is impatiently drumming his fingers on a wooden staff with a distraught look on his face. Constant slurping, gulping, and chomping sounds invade his ear drums, causing Kami to twitch one of his eyes in disbelief. His black pupils constantly dart from left to right, spotting Mr. Popo hurriedly bringing more and more dishes to the starving Goku. With his free arm, he props up his green arm on the throne’s resting area and lightly face palms.

“It’s times like this where I’m grateful that I don’t need food to live…” thought Kami as he continued to inspect the monstrous eating habits of the so-called “savior of the world”. He had something important to tell Goku during dinner, but he came to realize that any sort of information shared to the boy during his favorite past-time would come in one end and out the other. So, he decided that waiting would be best for this type of situation. However, what Kami didn’t anticipate was that satisfying the hunger of an energetic boy like Goku would take THREE WHOLE HOURS! 

“It’s funny how I’m Guardian of the Earth, yet have no idea what time it is now. Maybe I should have Mr. Popo get a normal clock instead of relying on the Hypersonic…Hydrochloric? Hyper…Ahh Room of Spirit and Time that was it. Sometimes these complicated names can-“ Kami’s mundane thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a bowl being placed on the large dining table set up for Goku. Rubbing his now bulging belly, Goku gives out a big eye smile and swallows the last remaining noodles in his most recent meal. 

“That was great! Thanks Mr. Popo!” shouted Goku in unprecedented glee towards the amount top-notch cuisine he was able to digest. Mr. Popo, at the sight of Goku’s currently refreshed energy, gives a shaky thumbs up to the monkey boy and collapses from exhaustion, getting even more of a workout cooking for Goku than outright fighting him. Completely full, Goku completely draws undivided detention to his latest master, a sentiment Kami thanked God (or himself?) for happening.

“So, Kami. What’s the special occasion for anyway? You never asked to eat with me before.” Goku questioned the ancient deity while unceremoniously scratching the back of his head. Kami slowly ascends from his current seating arrangement, towering over his disciple exponentially. He firmly grasps his staff and begins to march closer to the former student of Master Roshi.

“Well, Goku. I’ve been noticing how well you have been doing with your training recently and decided that it was the right time for you to try out more advanced forms of strength enhancement. Mainly, the Time Room.” inquired Kami with a slight smile on his face. For a moment, Goku looked pleased by the old Namekian’s praise of his abilities, but immediately started to get confused again.

“Time Room? What’s that?” asked Goku with a slight tilt of his head. Kami, expecting this level of cluelessness from the boy, began to motion towards the open entrance of his throne room. Mr. Popo, awakened from his energy-deprived stupor, quickly follows behind his master and hides his past soreness with an ominous blank stare. Curious to see what this new location was, Goku set aside his immense tower of dishes and ran in their direction, his footsteps echoing within the hollow exterior of the palace. 

Kami and Mr. Popo lead Goku to a circular room in the Lookout filled with a wide variety of clocks distinct in both sizes and shapes. Each clock ticks harmoniously with one another, some moving faster or slower depending on the exact time they are tracking. Goku darts his head from left to right in absolute awe, his mouth agape in childish amazement. Kami inspects the Time Room and begins to describe its functions, along with its potential setbacks.

“The Time Room, as the name implies, will be able to send you to any past time period the user wishes to explore. These clocks represent an almost infinite number of parallel timelines and famous points in the world’s history. Some might even be alternate versions of Earth itself from what I could gather.” explained Kami among the expansive cacophony of ticking permeating around him. Goku cups his chin while looking down to the floor, his tail swishing in a back and forth motion.  
“How would this help me get stronger though?” muttered Goku in both bewilderment and slight impatience. Mr. Popo steps closer to the boy and clasps his shoulder in a comforting manner, his red lips now laying flat in a thin line.

“You will be sent to a time where the greatest of martial artists were still in their peak condition of strength, including your former master, Roshi the Turtle Hermit. There, your skills in chi control will hopefully be enhanced to a much greater level.” lectured the chubby genie in a stern tone. Goku, at the mention of Roshi, suddenly takes a 180 in terms of mood and begins to happily bounce in place.

“A younger version of Gramps?! That’s so cool! I can’t wait to see what he was like!” whoops Goku in complete positivity. Caught up in the moment, he blindly charges forward toward the center of the Time Room, hoping to travel back in time right away. Kami raises a hand to cease Goku’s tirade of joy, an order the 15-year-old accepts after a another second of pumping himself up. 

“Now, Goku, listen carefully. To use the Time Room properly, you must think of the time period you want to travel to first and foremost. I repeat: keep your thoughts focused! If you set your mind on one timeline and sporadically change it in the next second, the Time Room will lose track of where you are and you will be lost. Understand?” Kami slowly emphasizes in a deadly serious shout. Goku gulps and slowly nods his head, standing completely still in the Time Room’s center position. 

“Good! So-“ Kami’s inquiry is interrupted by the sudden rumbling of the entire Lookout, almost losing his balance if not for the help of his trusty staff. Mr. Popo was not as fortunate as he started to lose his balance and tumble all over the place. The hands of each clock start to spin at break neck speeds and their ticks accelerate in terms of pace. Out of nowhere, a blue dragon rockets toward Goku from the ceiling of the Time Room, wings flapping in a steady rhythm. The helpless Saiyan child looks up at the glowing mythical beast with squinted eyes. 

“Shenron?” whispers Goku in absolute befuddlement. At that thought, the dragon phases through Goku’s body and possesses the helpless boy without his consent. With a blue aura surrounding his body, Goku subconsciously closes his eyes and thinks of a place he has absolutely no recollection of. As Kami stated, this phenomenon causes Goku to fade away as if he was some sort of ghostly apparition, throwing off the Time Room’s main functions. As the finalist of the 21st and 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai vanishes, every single clock suddenly stops ticking and the Lookout goes back to normal. Mr. Popo shakily gets up from his position on the floor, his eyes popping out of their sockets in response to the anomaly that just took place.

“K-Kami? W-what was that? W-where did G-goku go?” questioned the heavily concerned Mr. Popo as beads of sweat pulsated down his covered forehead. Kami closes his eyes remorsefully and grinds his teeth, a sigh of frustration being let out in the process. 

“I’m afraid, Mr. Popo, that Goku was just sent to another dimension…” revealed Kami as he narrowed his two yellow pupils in growing anger. Mr. Popo simply looked upon his master in abject horror, thinking of the terrible situation Earth has suddenly been placed in. Son Goku, the world’s greatest hero, was gone and would be for who knows how long.


	2. Aang and the Monkey King

Goku…  
Goku…  
Goku’s eyes steadily fluttered open in response to the strange disembodied voice calling his name. He had no idea who it was, so the boy just rubbed the sleep out of his eyes while surveying the surrounding area. What caught the young Saiyan’s gaze was a gigantic sea of puffy clouds floating across an orange tinged sky with a bright white sun shining down on him. 

“Wasn’t I in Kami’s Lookout just now? Why am I floating in-“ Goku’s cluttered thoughts were interrupted by the sight of him riding on top of the same blue dragon that flew towards him just seconds before. His eyes widened ever so slightly at both the appearance of said reptilian creature and how immensely smaller it was compared to the eternal dragon, Shenron. It also had four horns instead of the deer antlers said aforementioned green leviathan was known to have.

“SON GOKU!” shouted a powerful raspy voice to the extremely lost martial artist. Goku flinched hard at the third utterance of his name, almost off the glowing dragon if it weren’t for the fact that he was really inside some sort of illusion keeping him in place. Hesitantly, Goku peered over to the eyes of his current mode of transportation.

“Was that you Mr. Dragon? How do you know my name?” inquired Goku as he peered into the slit pupils of the foreign mythological being. The dragon simply gave a deadpanned look to the boy and pointed to the north with his right whisker, growling silently. Goku blinked twice and looked into the direction of the actual speaker, witnessing an elderly man with a flowing white beard and long hair to match. On top of the individual’s head was a crown designed in the likeness of fire with a needle tightly securing it to a short bun of the man’s scalp. He also wore red shoulder pads and an extensive robe of the same tinge that completely covered both of his legs and arms. This was Avatar Roku, a firebender who managed to master all four elements during the time he was alive.

“Oooooohhh, you’re the one who was talking to me. That makes more sense. So, wassup?” asked the gleeful Goku without a care in the world. Roku simply sweat dropped at the immense innocence of such a powerful being. He honestly had no idea what to think at the moment. The fact that Goku had no sort of reaction to him floating in mid-air was bad enough, but his response was at an even higher level of baffling. Wassup? What does that even mean? Roku just took a deep breath and focused on what was most important in this situation. This is for Aang and he would do anything to make sure the next Avatar in the cycle fulfills his destiny as best as humanly possible no matter what. 

“What’s up, Goku, is that I am in need of your abilities. More specifically, your ability expound your chi or, in other words, life energy.” Roku calmly expressed to the hopelessly confused alien kid. Goku, putting two and two together, narrows his eyes at the strange old geezer standing…err…levitating right in front of him. His brown tail fluffs up in apprehension. 

“My world? Does that mean I’m somewhere else?” Goku reluctantly pronounced to the former bridge between the mortal and spirt worlds. Roku grimaced and closed his wrinkled eyes, peering at Goku in a sympathetic light. 

“I’m afraid to admit that you are, my boy,” murmured Roku remorsefully as his eyes glow a pure white much to the monkey boy’s amazement. Suddenly, before Goku’s very eyes, the clouded sky transforms into a map of the countryside down below, showcasing four continents of varying sizes and colors. “Unlike your home, this world has four nations based on four basic elemental properties. First, there are the Northern and Southern Water Tribes, glaciated environments where the inhabitants can manipulate all forms of water. Second, there is the largest of the four, the Earth Kingdom. As implied by the name, many of its citizens can control the earth beneath their feet for combat or transportation purposes. Third, there are the Northern, Southern, Western, and Eastern Air Temples, mountainous locals inhabited by nomadic monks who have power over the very air they breathe. Then, there is my home…”

Roku pauses for a moment, scowling in disgust at the mere thought of what used to be his birthplace. Goku is too wrapped up in trying to comprehend the information Roku just shared him to notice the change in behavior.

“The Fire Nation…” growled Roku as the scenery changed once more to display towers of raging fire, paired with a vast army of marching foot soldiers. Each of the men wear masks similar in appearance to human skulls, aligned with red crests that curve upward. “Is an island country tasked with global domination over all four nations. They plan to do this by utilizing the most deadly and destructive element there is: fire. Unlike the other nations, people living there can bend at any point in time. As long as the sun is still shining and there is breath still in their bodies, they have a limitless supply of fire to utilize to their heart’s content. That is what makes the Fire Lord’s plans for worldwide conquest a true force to be reckoned with.” 

“Fire Lord? Sounds like a bad dude, but how would I be any help in stopping him? I already have Piccolo to deal with at the next tournament!” Goku whined childishly while crossing his arms in confuddled frustration. Roku, undeterred by Goku’s concerns, points to the boy with an air of respect etched on his wise visage.

“Your triumph over the Demon King is exactly why I called you here, Goku! I have observed all of the feats you have accomplished in the past three years and some of them would be comparable to even the greatest of Avatars, myself included. From fighting Jackie Chun in the 21st World Martial Arts Tournament to destroying the Red Ribbon Army singlehandedly, I know for a fact you will be helpful in fulfilling Aang’s destiny to master all four elements. That is, if you agree to train him in chi control when the time is right.” Roku praised Goku in a quite decent act of persuasion. Said martial artist was unsure of the proposition, but witnessing the pain and suffering being caused by this so-called “Fire Nation” caused his blood to boil in rage. Plus, the prospect of having a decent fight with the fire lord didn’t hurt either. 

“So, if I help this U-ung…Ong?” presumed Goku as he struggled to recall the name of the kid he was being asked to help out.

“Aang, yes.” Roku calmly acknowledged, patiently waiting for Goku to mentally catch up.

“Will I be able to go back to Kami’s place after this Fire Lord guy is over and done with?” pleaded Goku as he proceeded to grasp onto Roku’s dragon for dear life. Roku looked down on the boy with a tight smile laced with an underlying sense of uncertainty. He briskly stroked his beard and thought of the best way to put Goku’s conundrum into words. 

“Well, time works differently in this specific version of Earth when compared to yours. Since I’m no longer alive, I was fortunate enough to transport myself and Fang here from the Spirit World to Kami’s Lookout at just the right moment. However, I was only able to pick you up because of the Time Room’s activation. If that specific location is not used again, I won’t be able to pair my abilities with Kami’s to bring you back.” Roku exclaimed to the already homesick monkey boy.

“YOU’RE DEAD?!” shrieked Goku in absolute shock as he pointed towards the old firebender, causing him to fall backwards in mid-air…somehow. Fang also let out an audible growl in response to the Saiyan kid’s sudden stupidity, but continued flying anyways. 

“You’ve resurrected friends of yours with those Dragon Balls, yet the fact that I’m a spirit surprises you?! Why do you think Fang is glowing?!” Roku practically yelped at the combat savant whilst clawing at the sides of his hair. 

“Oh, I thought he just looked like that. Shenron glowed, so I assumed all dragons did too. Whoops!” Goku shamefully admitted while crossing his arms behind his head and smiling.  
“Of course you did. Why wouldn’t you?” sighed Roku in defeat with slumped shoulders.

“But…” Goku’s wide smile disappeared, replaced with a noticeable frown and narrowed eyes. “If I am stuck here and time won’t progress that much in my own dimension, I might as well do what you want me to do.” Goku closes his eyelids, thinking about the friends he would have to leave behind in the process of fulfilling this difficult request, especially those recently slain by Piccolo a few months beforehand. 

“Krillin…Master Roshi…Bulma…I promise to comeback somehow. I won’t let Piccolo do anything to hurt you guys ever again.” Goku mentally vowed to the people he cared for the most. Roku, grateful for the boy’s acceptance, slowly nods at his trusty animal companion. Understanding the request of his master, Fang elongates one of his whiskers to touch Goku’s bang enshrouded forehead. The sensation of this touch causes a white aura to surround Goku, projecting a gallery of images for the boy to decipher. One is of the Southern Air Temple bustling with various bald denizens wearing matching orange and yellow garments, many riding spherical orbs of condensed wind. The display of the landscape then zooms in on one specific monk in particular gliding around on a brown staff with orange wings. He has grey eyes and the atypical blue arrowhead shared by all airbending masters. This is the potential pupil Roku was requesting Goku to teach: Avatar Aang, or the boy who would hopefully bring unity to all four nations someday. 

“Fang will directly transport you to Aang’s home, which is the series of temples you just saw.” Roku informed Goku as the ghostly apparition of his once living body steadily flickered away in a surge of clouds. The former best friend of Fire Lord Sozin smiles down once more upon the Saiyan prodigy and gives the traditional Fire Nation bow of respect: a fist placed against an open palm in the form of a warm flame as he leans his chest downward.

“Good luck, Son Goku. I know you and Aang will both help each other realize your fullest potentials.” regarded the boy with the highest of hopes possible. Before Goku could say another word, Fang teleported away in a spiritual blue ball of glowing energy, taking the bravest of the Z Warriors with him. Roku staid in place a short while after, his eyes suddenly widening at a slight miscalculation in his plans that he somehow forgot to compensate for. 

“Oh. I probably should have told Fang to drop Goku off at a specific location near the temple grounds.” murmured the preceding Avatar in slight worry for Goku’s safety. He strokes his beard a few times, then shrugs his concealed shoulders absentmindedly.

“He should be fine.” Roku stated while having full confidence in Goku’s skills as a martial art professional. With that last thought, he faded away in a plume of smoke, waiting for the moment Aang or even Goku himself would need to call upon him for guidance on the adventures they will most likely have with each other in the near future.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!” screamed Goku in bloody murder after Fang transported him almost 50 feet above the Southern Air Temple’s main pavilion. His loud wailing caught the immediate attention of the air nomads meandering about from below, moving their heads around to find the source of the ear-splitting screech.

“W-what on earth was that?” asked a frightened young monk without any tattoos along his head or body.

“Is that a child? Where did he come from?” yelled out a much more elderly airbending master with long orange and yellow robes. He squinted his eyes and a placed a hand atop both of them to block out the glare of the sun. 

Goku started to run out of options, picking up more and more speed the closer he got to reaching his intended destination. He thought of spinning his tail like a helicopter blade, but that was just a spur of the moment sort of sensation that only took place as a result of his fight with Jackie Chun at the 21st Tenkaichi Budokai. Nimbus also wasn’t a guaranteed life-saver since he left it in his home dimension alongside his trusty power pole, the Nyoibo. That only left one possible survival method that he could utilize if executed fast enough.

“Ka…” Goku cupped both of his hands together and placed them on the right edge of his premature body. He glared daggers at the descending location, his black spiny hair slicked backwards in response to the flowing gust of wind. Nearby, Aang was gliding in the air without a care in the world when he suddenly spotted a weird kid with a monkey tail falling down to the surface at concerning speeds. 

“What’s he doing with his hands?” Aang pondered while observing the boy’s strange behavior in the midst of his potential demise. Not wanting the kid to hurt himself, the peace-loving monk adjusted the position of his glider and followed a current of wind leading to Goku’s compromising position.

“Me…” A ball of white and blue energy envelops from within Goku’s open palms, growing ever so slightly in size. The glow of the expansive ki blast surrounds the entire Southern Air Temple, leaving Aang and the other air nomads completely entranced by this unknown combination of power. 

“Ha…Me…” pillars of white light shoot out of the condensed orb of ki, starting to spin around in a hyperactive rhythm of motion. Goku is now halfway towards falling face first into the tiled floorboards of the temple’s gathering area. He clenches his teeth and makes preparations to shoot downward.

“…HA!” shouts Goku as a cylindrical stream of blue and white rockets downward, crashing into the paved center of the Southern Air Temple. A small explosion is created from the trademark “Turtle Destruction Wave”, sending out a gust of wind that blows away Aang and the other airbenders. Pieces of broken pavement fly all over the place as Goku utilizes his signature technique to make a safe landing. He stands up on his two feet and peruses the foreign environment Roku gave him information about. Aang, after adjusting his glider a bit, gazes upon the boy in awe, never even hearing of such abilities in his entire 12-year-old life span. He jumps near Goku from up above, spinning his staff around in order to put away the orange wings. 

“W-who are you?” questioned a slightly terrified, yet amazed Aang, a sentiment shared by the fellow occupants of the Southern Air Temple. Goku, recognizing the face of the next Avatar, simply closes his eyes and gives out a peace sign.

“Yo, I’m Son Goku. You got any food around here?” snickered Goku in preparation for his first meal in the new world. Aang simply gave the boy a look reminiscent of smelling a bad fart, not knowing that his life from this point onward would change for better, or for worse.


	3. Dragons Have Balls?

Chapter 3: Dragons Have Balls?  
Goku continued to smile absentmindedly at the sea of bald people he just scared the living daylights out of while Aang played back the first thing vocalized by the bizarre human-monkey hybrid. This guy straight up shot a laser out of his hands, yet all he cared about at the moment was eating? After he almost died just seconds ago? He had to find out more about him and what his exact intentions were.

“Um, yeah we do, but…” Aang ran like the wind towards Goku, getting up in his personal space whilst flailing his arms around like a mad man. “WHAT THE HECK TYPE OF BENDING WAS THAT?! IT WAS INCREDIBLE!” The usually wise monk had theoretical stars in his eyes, absolutely thunderstruck by the unique spectacle that just took place. Goku’s blinked a few times and raised one of his eyebrows in puzzlement.

“Bending? But there was nothing for me to bend…” asked a lost Goku as he depicted the motion of breaking a metal bar with his hands. Aang and the other airbenders glanced at each other, stupefied by how far Goku missed the point of his question. 

“No, I meant the elemental bending. You know water, earth, fire, and air? Like what you just did!” clarified Aang while doing his best to imitate the hand position of the Kamehameha.

“Oh gotcha. But that wasn’t any of the elewhatchamacallits. The Kamehameha was all a result of my chi.” corrected Goku while rudely picking at the tip of his brown tail. The eldest members of the airbending group grew suspicious of the nonsense this boy was spouting. Not only did he look like an everyday fire nation youth, but he also described his “attack” as chi. In all of their years of studying the secrets of the universe both mentally and spiritually, chi, with the aid of chakras, was the central form energy they relied upon to so. And they knew for a fact that not even the most sophisticated of bending masters could produce a stream of compressed life energy that devastating with the mere announcement of one single phrase. This “Goku” needed a lot of explaining to do and the guardians of the Southern Air Temple would not take no for an answer. 

“Chi?! Does that mean-“ Aang was interrupted by a gentle hand being rested on his shoulder. This was Monk Gyatso, the prepubescent monk’s airbending master and personal caretaker. He was distinguishable from the others based on an upside-down U-shaped moustache that concealed his upper lip. Gyatso gave a look to Aang that silently instructed him to be quiet and the Avatar-in-training did so without question. He then gave a polite smile to the antsy Saiyan child and bowed.

“Greetings, Goku. I am Monk Gyatso.” introduced the elderly airbender in kind. Reminding him of Master Roshi, Goku reciprocated the benevolent gesture and clasped both of his hands together as if he were praying. The crowd gasped in response to the goofy boy’s sudden 180 change in behavior. 

“Hello. Nice to meet you.” greeted Goku respectfully. 

“Would it be alright if the Council of Elders asked you some questions? You won’t be harmed in any way I assure you.” implored Monk Gyatso while gesturing to four important looking individuals near the entrance of the Southern Air Temple’s tallest building. One, Monk Tashi, glared at Goku as if he were a major threat to the sanctity of the temple. He had pronounced bushy eyebrows and a long white goatee to match, narrowing his brown eyes dangerously. Another, Monk Pasang, the distinguished leader of the Southern Air Temple, seemed to be analyzing Goku’s every individual movement and characteristic, attempting to determine his place of origin. He has a black unibrow and a noticeable Fu Manchu type of moustache. A slight chill went down Goku’s spine in response to the judgmental looks they were giving him, but it dissipated once he looked back at the fatherly guise of Gyatso.

“Sure. Can I eat afterwards though? I’m starving!” Goku happily expressed to the gentle airbending master. Monk Gyatso chuckled nervously as he escorted the innocent martial artist to the council room. The other airbenders went back to what they were doing beforehand, awaiting a direct response from High Monk Pasang after the interrogation session was dismissed. Aang, however, could not wait to know more about this “invader” from the skies above and decided to take matters into his own hands. Looking to make sure the coast was clear, he projected himself upwards using airbending and landed on the council’s ceiling. He then sneakily made his way to a nearby window, hoping to spy on Gyatso and the other elders without getting caught. 

“So, your name is Son Goku, correct?” Pasang drawled on with a bored look on his face. Like his fellow councilmembers, he sat on a rectangular cushion with black markings placed on the front and its other three sides. However, as the High Monk, a white and gold umbrella was also placed above him, both showcasing his level of importance to the temple and shielding him from the outdoor light beaming in. On his right, Monk Gyatso and another ancient airbender wearing a red robe with a long black and white beard extending from the nose down sat in patient silence. On the left, Monk Tashi grumbled to himself alongside a much bigger airbender with a rounder face than the others. 

“Yep. That’s me.” Goku sat Indian style on a mat much smaller than that of the elders. His tail swished around sporadically, subconsciously searching for some form of sustenance in this ever-expansive temple from another world. Tashi, not really taking notice of the tail at first, points accusingly at the boy of parts unknown. 

“Boy, is that tail real? Are you some kind of spirit?” Tashi rudely probed Goku for more information about himself. Goku boldly turned his head in the direction of his backside and lightly tugged on it, trying not to tire himself out like what happened during many previous occurrences. Seeing this, the elders became more interested in figuring out what the heck Goku was. 

“Not a spirit, but I was born with a tail. My Grandpa Gohan told me so.” Goku admitted with some sense of pride. He lightly frowned at the remembrance of his deceased grandfather, but that was quickly masked by his usually playful grin. Monk Gyatso, however, noticed.

“Can you tell us about your grandfather, Goku?” Gyatso asked in a much more considerate tone than Tashi’s.

“Well, he was a super awesome martial artist! When I was a baby, he found me in the woods after my parents left me there. Since then, Grandpa taught me how to fight and protect myself from wild animals until…” Goku clenched his fists and looked down at his feet in sadness. This sudden level of seriousness caught the monks off-guard, but Gyatso empathetically waited for the young man’s response. 

“Until what exactly?” Pasang asked with a steady raise of his right unibrow. Goku tilted his head back up, a deeper frown still plastered on his face. 

“…Until a giant monster came during the full moon and stomped on him. The next morning he disappeared and I couldn’t find him anywhere.” recalled a morose Goku in regret for not being able to save the closest thing he had to a father. 

Gyatso and the elders were further puzzled by the boy standing before them. They completely forgot to take into account that the same person projecting that massive blast of plasmatic energy just minutes prior was and still is, a kid. He wasn’t some monster they could blast off the mountain top with a combined gale of wind and be done with it. No, Goku, despite having a tail, was just an ordinary child with thoughts, desires, and above all, feelings. However, power such as his combined with the emotional instability of a teenage boy could lead to disastrous consequences. That is what could possibly make him the most dangerous individual on the face of the planet, next to the Avatar and the Fire Lord himself. 

“Sorry for your loss. That must have been hard on you at such a young age.” The round-faced elder shared his condolences to the monkey-tailed warrior. Goku shook his head and went back to his previously joyful mood. Gyatso couldn’t help, but compare him to Aang at that point in time, knowing full well how fun-loving and energetic the next Avatar could be. 

“That’s okay. Back in my world, I was able to fight with him one last time before his spirit permanently traveled to the afterlife. It was fun!” Goku sighed happily as he recalled the time he fought in Fortuneteller Baba’s tournament to gather the Dragon Balls. There were a ton of weirdos fighting there, but he was able to resurrect Bora because of it. Simultaneously, all of the elder’s jaws dropped to the floor at what Goku just so casually revealed to them. 

“YOU’RE FROM ANOTHER WORLD?!” hollered the 5 airbending masters in unison. A sixth voice also stated the same thing, but Aang attempted to say it as inaudibly as possible, so he wouldn’t get caught. Goku, with his heightened senses, caught on to the extra sound, but wouldn’t reveal anything just yet. 

“Yeah, so?” asked Goku, none the wiser to their apprehension. The old monks face faulted, their tempers starting to reach their breaking points. 

“You just said you weren’t a spirit, yet you admitted to fighting with your grandpa’s! Was that a lie?!” Tashi shouted with a tick mark permeating on his bald head. Goku covered his ears, reminded of the times when Bulma would let out high-pitched screeches of anger in retaliation for his cluelessness. 

“I already said that I’m not and I meant it. Avatar Roku sent me here.” groaned Goku, growing annoyed with the crankiness of these “old Krillins” as he would like to call them. The council room grew dead silent once again, each elder aghast by the intel Goku just shared, especially Monk Gyatso. Aang somehow recognized the name and who he was, but could not put his finger on it as to why he did. 

“A-avatar Roku?” Monk Pasang breathed out in disbelief. 

“Yeah. You see I come from a world centric on the practice of martial arts and chi manipulation. I was able to grow stronger through traveling around my version of Earth searching for the Dragon Balls.” Goku boasted with his arms crossed and a cocky smile etched on his lips. The Council of Elders exchanged looks, thinking of something completely different to what the Saiyan boy was actually implying. Aang tried hard not to laugh out loud, covering his mouth with the collar of his shirt. 

“What does he mean by that? Do dragons even have balls?” thought Monk Pasang, trying hard not to plague his atoned mind with shameful thoughts of… more private subjects. 

“How revolting! What kind of backwards civilization was he born in?” thought a wrongfully appalled Monk Tashi.

“Care to elaborate about these ‘Dragon Balls’, Goku?” Monk Gyatso figured to ask since the others were busy jumping to conclusions like a quartet of scattered-brained Sky Bison. 

“Well, the Dragon Balls are seven orange orbs that each have red stars indicating what number they are. I have a soft spot for the Four-Star Ball in particular since it’s all I have left of grandpa. Anyways, once someone collects them all, a ginormous dragon named Shenron will be summoned and grant any wish the user asks for. However, once a wish takes effect, Shenron will disappear and scatter the Dragon Balls across the Earth, unable to be used until one full year has passed.” explained Goku to the previously offended council elders. After finding out what the Dragon Balls actually were, Pasang, Tashi, and the other two mentally cursed themselves for being so vulgar without any source of information to go by. 

“That’s fascinating and all, but why did Roku send you here? And the Southern Air Temple of all places!” snapped Tashi, still not buying any of the fairy tail this monkey boy just shared to them. Shenron, really? Did he just combine the first two names he could think of and shut off his brain for the day?

From his hand, Goku projected a small ball of chi white and yellow in color. It whirred to life with a dim buzzing sound and practically blinded the Council of Elders. They already saw the majesty that was the Kamehameha Wave from a reasonable distance, but seeing chi up close was truly a sight to behold. From up above, Aang thought it seemed like an odd combination of air and fire mixed with the calm flow of water. It couldn’t be put into words, but he could feel it somehow. 

“Back home, I became the strongest person in the world after managing to do what some of my friends failed to do: kill an evil monster known as King Piccolo. This is why Roku brought me here. To train the next Avatar and make sure he is strong enough to face his own worst enemy: the Fire Lord.” admitted Goku in a bit of both sternness and frustration. Sternness at the fact that he knew this was for the good of saving innocent lives and frustration towards his inability to go home until this conflict is officially solved. 

This revelation frightened Gyatso, knowing that Aang was just recently recognized as the next Avatar in the cycle. He wanted Aang to appreciate the accommodations of childhood until the age of 16 when most Avatars start their journey, but Goku’s purpose hindered those plans. With Fire Lord Sozin’s plans for war against the other three nations, Gyatso knew that Goku’s presence would serve as a catalyst for thrusting Aang into a destiny he was not yet ready to fulfill. 

“This variation of chi truly is something the Fire Nation would not be expecting. With Goku around to teach Aang the same power in conjunction with the four elements, maybe there won’t have to be a war after all…” surmised Pasang with a slight smile as he stroked one side of his moustache. He darted his eyes in line with Goku’s, raising a hand to silence the murmurs of Goku’s unbelievable feat and promise. 

“Alright, Goku, I will allow you to stay here. But you will remain under the watchful supervision of Monk Gyatso until further notice. Is that understood?” Monk Pasang lectured to the 15-year-old in a no-nonsense sort of attitude. Goku simply nodded as his stomach started roaring to life without his consent. Blushing, the boy bowed sheepishly to the Council of Elders. 

“Can I eat now?” pleaded Goku like that of a whimpering dog seeking attention. 

“Just wait outside, Goku. I’ll be done here shortly.” Monk Gyatso kindly egged on the adoptive grandson of Gohan with a shooing wave of his hand. Goku caught onto the gesture and got up from his seat, running toward the exit at a moderate pace. 

After leaving the Council of Elders, Goku stared at the building’s upper roof. Remembering the faint sound he heard earlier, he practices a technique Kami (more so Mr. Popo) taught him recently: energy detection. The boy closes his eyes, scanning for any prominent ki signatures aside from the 5 airbending masters. Surely enough, as suspected, he finds one right behind him, causing him to jump up to their hiding place as quiet as a mouse. Goku sidles up along the wall and spots Aang leaning forward in a nearby window. 

“Huh, what do you know? I guess he was spying the whole time!” thought Goku, impressed by the stealth capabilities of airbenders. He tip toes closer and lightly taps Aang on the shoulder. This doesn’t go as well he hoped it would. 

“GYAHHHHHH-“ Aang cried out in surprise before his mouth was covered by Goku’s hand. Thankfully, the Council of Elders were too caught up in their own conversation to hear the young monk’s surprising girlish yelping. 

“How did you know I was up here?” whispered a stupefied Aang.  
“I sensed your energy. It’s something only the strongest of chi users can do.” pronounced Goku while poking at his forehead. Aang peered at Goku in wonder and entered a small thinking position. 

“So, if you do train me like you said, would I learn how to do that?” inquired Aang with an excitement-filled smile almost as big as Goku’s. Goku, his stomach on the line, only took in bits and pieces of what the airbending kid just said and practically pushed both of them off the ceiling in a hunger-induced rush. 

“We’ll talk later. First, I need to get some food!” shouted Goku as he practically dragged Aang across the temple grounds in search of Monk Gyatso’s living quarters. Aang just went along with Goku’s antics and gave him the proper directions.


	4. Clouded Judgement

Aang and Monk Gyatso both lost their appetites the moment Goku started to eviscerate the fresh produce laid out in front of him. Fruits and vegetables of all types were entirely inhaled in one gulp by the food-loving Saiyan adolescent, leftover scraps splayed below and all around the dining table. Aang attempted to speak out against Goku’s seeming lack of manners, but Gyatso insisted that they wait until he’s finished, rightfully assuming that the boy would have hunger-induced tunnel vision until his stomach was completely full. Much to Aang’s chagrin and heartbreak, Goku also beat him to the highly cherished egg custard tart the moment they sat down. After what seemed like ages, Goku let loose a satisfied belch of triumph, a sensation that caused the entirety of the Southern Air Temple to shake back and forth. How was that possible? It’s Goku. That’s how. 

“Ahhhh! Delicious! I don’t think I could eat another bite!” praised Goku in absolute nutritional euphoria. Aang and Monk Gyatso breathe out inaudible sighs of relief, grateful that they could finally exchange some semblance of words with their new guest. 

“So, Goku. I was thinking that maybe you and Aang could spend some time getting to know each better. Maybe have him show you around the temple and such.” Monk Gyatso offered courteously to his pupil’s eventual instructor. The young airbender seemed to agree with the idea wholeheartedly, giving Goku a thumbs up of approval. 

“Well, I guess I have nothing better to do, so why not?” Goku positively exclaimed with his muscular arms crossed behind his head. Aang got up from his seat and hurriedly lead Goku to the exit of Gyatso’s room.

“Come on Goku! I’ll introduce you to Appa!” declared the currently hyperactive Avatar as he gradually picked up the pace with Goku in toe. 

“Have fun you two! Be careful!” Gyatso waved farewell to the two bumbling kids with a tentative smile on his face. An expression that suddenly transformed into one of seriousness the very moment he was left alone once more. This was all he wanted for Aang. A period of time for the young airbender to truly cherish his younger years as any other boy his age would be able to do. However, with impending war looming over the entire world, those days were all but numbered. Especially, with the sudden emergence of Son Goku, another young warrior with just as much, if not more, pressure hanging on his shoulders than Aang’s. Gyatso pensively adjusted the wooden airbending pendant wrapped around his neck, holding back the anger-induced tears threatening to spill. 

“Why did it have to be him? He’s 12 years old! He shouldn’t have to deal with a maniacal tyrant seeking world domination! What Avatar, besides Kyoshi, truly has?!” growled an infuriated Gyatso, losing his temper for the first time in who knows how long. Right as he starts to grind his teeth, the old airbender steadies his breathing and regains the composure that was temporarily left unhinged. To calm his nerves, he gulps down a cup of warm tea and swallows.

“How long are you planning to baby him, Gyatso?” accused the newly present Monk Tashi, his ancient eyes squinted in unbridled rage. Gyatso puts away his cup and adjusted the position of his head, returning the favor in a much calmer alternative of annoyance. 

“What are you implying, Tashi?” Gyatso irritably murmured to his fellow airbending master. Tashi scoffed and marched into the room, loudly slamming his fist on the table.

“You know damn well what I mean, Gyatso! All you do is play pointless games with the Avatar instead of preparing him for what’s truly important: stopping this war from taking place! Aang should be practicing more advanced forms of airbending combat techniques, yet what do you have him do?! Play Pai Sho without a care in the world?! What a disgrace!” bellowed Tashi in disgust towards Gyatso’s complete lack of concern for the Fire Nation’s sinister intentions. Gyatso sends forth a stream of wind into Tashi’s face, pushing him a great distance away from the table.

“Aang is just a boy! He should not be groomed into some form of wartime superweapon!” Gyatso roared in complete protective mode over Aang’s safety. Tashi’s bald head grows beat red in irritation, a sphere of high-powered air permeating in his hands. 

“He. Is. The. Avatar! The sooner you to come to grips with that fact, the more likely the world’s safety becomes. Think about it.” Tashi snarled, brushing his robe a few times and storming towards the sliding door. 

“As long as he is in my care, Aang will not be going anywhere. Mark my words on that!” Gyatso hissed towards his stubborn airbending colleague. Tashi adjusted his gaze backward and scoffed. 

“We’ll see about that, Gyatso. We’ll see.” With that last threat, Tashi made his way back to the Council of Elders with a new plan being put into action. Now even more worried for the fate of Aang and, surprisingly, Goku, Gyatso followed closely behind, doing anything in his power to make sure Aang’s innocence was kept intact for as long as possible. 

“So, who’s this Appa you were talking about earlier, Aang?” asked Goku with a not-so-subtle pick of his nose. Aang eyed Goku mischievously, keeping his mouth shut in order to not spoil the surprise. 

“I already told you Goku. You’ll find out when we get there.” the descendent of Avatar Roku assured Goku in the most honest way he could think of. The Saiyan fighter pouted immaturely and darted his jet-black pupils to the floor. Aang chuckled at his new friend’s impatience and proceeded directing him to a lower portion of the Southern Air Temple. As they descended the stone steps, Goku caught sight of a large group of animals completely foreign to the variation of Earth he was born in. 

“These are Sky Bison, the originators of all airbending as we know it!” Aang warmly introduced to the stupefied monkey boy. Said creatures are six-legged buffalos of abnormal size with shaggy white fur and brown arrow tattoos extending from front to back. The bigger ones have curved black horns placed above flat brown ears hidden within tufts of unkempt hair. Their noses are also black and ovalish in shape, paired nicely with the creatures’ large brown eyes. Goku is further astonished by the fact that many of the Sky Bison are flying across the sky, doing spins and various different tricks on top of plump clouds. 

“I wonder when Kami’s going to teach me how to do that…” wondered Goku as the mental image of him floating side-by-side with Nimbus came into view. Lost in his own thoughts of grandeur, the moronic martial artist doesn’t notice Aang walking up to a large herd of Sky Bison, each distinguishable in terms of age and size. He places his hands around his mouth and crouches down.

“Hey, Appa! It’s me buddy!” Aang cried out to the spacious stretch of sky near the Southern Air Temple. In response, a booming groan echoes across the heavens, originating from one of the largest bison in the entire collective. Tongue sticking out excitedly, the large fantastical animal crashed into his owner, sending out a barrage of fierce licks. Laughing in delight, Aang lightly hugs the Sky Bison’s snout and turns it a bit to the right, aligning Appa’s line of sight with Goku’s present vicinity. 

“This is my new friend, Goku. How ‘bout you say hi?” Aang lovingly suggested to his most trustworthy companion. Appa snorts a bit and stomps closer to Goku, reserving judgment for just a short while. The Saiyan snapped back to reality at the sound of six collective stomps, turning his head to see one brown pupil glowering at his compact body. Standing frozen in place, Goku gulps and waits for an action from the Sky Bison. Appa sniffs the boy a few times and further inspects the proportions of his body in greater detail. The elemental animal then stops and patiently adjusts his assessment of Aang’s newest friend. 

“Uh, hi?” Goku sheepishly greets to the fluffy bundle of white. Out of nowhere, Appa wags his tail against the floor and plants a big lick spanning from Goku’s face to his blue shoes, drenching him in pools of saliva and snot. Aang giggled at Goku’s current condition, keeling over on the tiled surface and grabbing at the sides of his stomach. 

“Hahaha…Well, he likes you at least.” praised the slightly apologetic Aang. Goku is then stampeded by a swarm of baby Sky Bison, catapulting him into the cold, hard ground as a result of their combined weight. The infants then slobber him just as profusely as their older counterpart, eliciting a buoyant snigger from the drenched 15-year-old and Aang in succession. After a period of Saiyan-animal bonding, the short-horned infants lose interest and all start biting on a metal contraption situated in the middle of the room. Finally able to move once again, Goku carelessly shakes his hair like a dog, drips of mucus and oral residue hitting everything in sight, including a grossed-out monk. 

“Ew! Knock it off, Goku!” Aang protested while Appa used his body as make-shift shield. Slowing his highly flawed cleaning method, Goku’s hair bounces back into place, spikes going into all sorts of directions as per usual. 

“Sorry, Aang! Force of habit!” Goku shyly apologized to the misfortunate airbender. Aang shrugged it off without argument, assuming that stuff like this was daily routine for Goku during the time when he was being raised in the wilderness of his home dimension.

“Animals seem to like you a lot. I’ve never seen Appa warm up to someone that fast.” said the highly impressed Aang. Goku treated himself to rubbing the Sky Bison’s exposed stomach, causing the animal to rest on his side in a rumbling fit of joy. 

“Really? I guess it might have something to do with my tail.” suggested the modest Goku since being atoned to the forces of nature was almost instinctual to him, ever since the day he was born. Aang drew his attention to the brown appendage, still transfixed by its existence. Was Goku the only one with a tail like this? Were there others? Those questions would probably need to be asked at a later date, but wouldn’t be forgotten in the slightest. 

“What are you Goku?” Aang thought curiously with a hint of suspicion. Goku ceased his belly rubbing and analyzed the flight patterns of the other Sky Bison, further reminding him of the Flying Nimbus he was forced to leave behind. This made him think of an unbelievable possibility that just might be possible according to the existence of airbenders. It’s another dimension, so who was to say there wouldn’t be counterparts of similar function and appearance? With this idea in mind, Goku sprinted towards the edge of the Southern Air Temple and jumped off, landing in an enormous blanket of clouds. 

“GOKU!” Aang shrieked, blindly assuming the worst for his foolish new companion. Just as he was about to deploy his glider, the silhouette of Goku’s round complexion and spiky hair seemed to defy gravity, steadily moving upward! Aang looks up to see Goku propel himself directly in front of the sun, standing on top of a small piece of the cloud formation he speedily exited out of WITHOUT FALLING!

“Awesome! I got a new nimbus! I got a new nimbus!” Goku cheered in self-congratulation while performing some sort of strange happy dance. Aang and Appa were struck dumb by this impossible phenomenon, both sporting expressions comparable to that of an underfed goldfish. They watched the monkey boy dart across the horizon at absurd speeds, riding the “solid” cloud effortlessly with multiple spins and tricks thrown into the mix. After his little test flight, Goku parked this world’s version of the Flying Nimbus in front of the confuzzled airbending monk. 

“Wha…huh…how?” stuttered Aang, struggling to put this odd experience into words. 

“Back in my world, I was given a magical cloud known as the Flying Nimbus by my martial arts master, Roshi the Turtle Hermit. Only someone who’s pure of heart can be able to stand on it though. So, I came up with the crazy idea that maybe all clouds work the same way or do so in this type of dimension. And I guess I was right! Neat, huh?” Goku innocently emphasized the tongue-tied Avatar and his pet. Aang just cupped his face in Goku’s lack of reliance on critical thinking.

“But what would have happened if you jumped and it didn’t work?” Aang asked seriously. Goku’s child-like pupils widen in shock, not really assuming that type of negative outcome would really take place. He stays silent for a few moments with a harsh glare directed towards Aang, the monk taken aback by how infuriated he looks. 

“Huh, I guess I would have died. Oops!” Goku’s death stare is replaced with a large smile of ignorance, shrugging his shoulders timidly. Aang just slaps his forehead and lets out a deep breath of disappointment. This was really going be his teacher?

“At least things won’t be boring with him around. That’s for sure.” Aang thought with a small smile on his lips. A great idea then came to form in his head, hoping to see what else Goku could do with this ‘Flying Nimbus’ firsthand. 

“Hey Goku! Do you want to fly around with Appa?” Aang asked in the process of saddling up Appa’s back. The saddle was a curvy brown apparatus with two holes in the front and two holes in the back designed for the use of passengers hanging on midflight. A piece of rope extended from the front, placed there with the intended use of giving a Sky Bison orders. Goku bobbed his head up and down almost too enthusiastically, jumping aboard the grey Flying Nimbus he just recently acquired. 

“Yeah! That sounds like fun!” beamed Goku as he prepared to launch his somewhat sentient cloud. Aang followed the monkey boy’s example and airbent himself around Appa’s neck. He gripped his arrow-tattooed hands around the saddle’s rope and patiently waited for Appa to get ready.

“Appa, yip yip!” bellowed Aang with a crack of the rope. Appa roared to life, ascending a few feet off of the ground and using the wind to jut himself forward into the vast sea of clouds. Not wanting to get left behind, Goku commanded Nimbus to follow, a request the new cloud gladly reciprocated. Almost breaking the sound barrier, Nimbus propelled its rider in the direction of the leading Sky Bison, Goku chortling uncontrollably in pure happiness. The two kids circled around the Southern Air Temple’s surrounding mountains and buildings, catching the attention of many airbenders walking down below. 

“U-unbelievable! That kid from before is flying on a cloud!” subconsciously shouted an extremely perplexed old airbender with long white sideburns. 

“The last airbender who was able to do that lived centuries ago! How is this boy so special?!” pondered a somewhat flabbergasted airbending nun as she prepared to care for the babies most recently born in the temple’s central monastery. 

“Incredible!”

“Astounding!”

“Cool!”

Shouts, whispers, and critiques of all kinds echoed off the walls of the Southern Air Temple in reaction to the otherworldly wonder that was Son Goku. He and Aang, however, didn’t really hear any of it. They were too preoccupied with their own fun to care about anything else, but becoming one with the wind itself and flying side by side. A sentiment that Monk Tashi, still intending to make his way back to the Council of Elders, did not appreciate in the slightest. 

“This trivial nonsense needs to be stopped. Both the Avatar and Goku are too important to let such merry-making cloud their judgements.” Monk Tashi spat inside of his head. He knew what had to be done and Gyatso’s emotional attachment to Aang would not get in the way of it any longer. 

“The world is more important right now. I hope Aang himself comprehends that at some point…” Monk Tashi sighed regretfully for what he was forcing onto the poor boy. However, it couldn’t be helped, not anymore at least. Aang had a destiny to fulfill and if he didn’t do it now, everything and everyone would be subjugated to the destructive power of the burning flame. He shook his head to no longer think of the worst possible outcome and proceeded onward to directly consult Pasang. Gyatso was not far behind.


	5. Lost in the Storm

After galivanting around the most elevated areas of the Southern Air Temple’s neighboring sky, Aang safely escorted Appa back to the Sky Bison’s most common rendezvous point with a sunny Goku in toe. As the pacifistic monk detached Appa’s saddle and placed it in the bottommost storage area of the temple, Goku pumped the theoretical breaks of his alternative Nimbus Cloud and hopped off. The monochromatic cloud halted its departure, awaiting a direct instruction from its partially simian owner.

“Thanks Nimbus! I’ll call you once I need you again!” exclaimed Goku while nonchalantly waving his hand in temporary farewell. With that pleased remark, Nimbus flew in the opposite direction and morphed back into the much bigger cloud it originated from, leaving behind a horizontal Jetstream of grey. Aang, still feeling adrenaline-laced butterflies in his stomach from the recent flight, tugged on the shoulder sleeve of Goku’s cherished gi. 

“Goku, I’ve got some friends to introduce you to.” Aang revealed in waiting to display (more likely show off) his air scootering prowess to the pure-hearted Saiyan. Already sold by the fun they had with the paired aerodynamic skills of Appa and Nimbus, Goku optimistically followed the path leading to the Avatar’s next intended stop on their surprisingly thrill-seeking tour of his home. Meeting new people like Aang could, admittedly, be equally interesting as well. 

A few minutes later, Aang navigated Goku to one of the Southern Air Temple’s most prominent courtyards, an area where novice airbenders were free to either play with one another or improve their elemental capabilities. The headstrong martial artist’s gaze darted to the residing presence of multiple kids the same age as or younger than Aang zooming around in circles. Each of them crossed their legs together and sat down on spheres of dense air, using their own bending to manipulate the direction they want them to travel to. Goku placed a hand over his mouth and leaned over to Aang with a particular question in mind.

“What type of move is that?” Goku murmured with the curiosity of a newborn baby. Crossing his arms in knowing self-admiration, Aang gave the oblivious monkey boy a basic run down of how the bending trick of his own design functioned. 

“It’s called an air scooter. Sort of like your Nimbus Cloud, only I can create one anytime I want and use it for land travel specifically. Neat, huh?” Aang subtly bragged like a traveling salesman advertising their latest product. Goku didn’t entirely comprehend what the monk meant by “create one anytime I want”, so Aang smirked and decided to give him an up-close demonstration. 

“Wait here.” Aang hoarsely advised with a raise of his index finger. He then walked up to his merry band of airbending buddies and gave his own two cents on their surprisingly fast progress. 

“Not bad, you guys have been practicing.” Aang complimented.

“Not only that. We made a game you can play with the air scooters!” A younger monk shouted in happiness for all of the fun they were having thanks to Aang’s own invention. Wanting to join in on the festivities and give some form of incite to Goku, Aang placed one hand over the other and started to circle them around, gusts of light blue wind being drawn into the open space between. Once a ball was formed, Aang manually expanded its size and balanced his entire body on top of it, resting his knuckles together as he did so. Goku, now immersed with the astute knowledge of how the so-called “scooter” was projected, ran up beside Aang and analyzed it from all perspectives. 

“Woah! It is like a portable Nimbus! I wish I could come up with something as unique as that. All of my moves were taught to me.” Goku commended to the creatively-intoned airbending Avatar, his monkey tail shifting from left to right like a dog’s. Flattered by the reaction, Aang just scratched the side of his face modestly and sniggered. Now in full view to the other kids, they gasped at the fairly distinguishable jagged crown of black hair.

“Wait a minute! Aren’t you the kid who was riding that cloud from before?!” gulped one of the un-tattooed monks in astonishment, shakily cruising closer to get a good look of Goku’s face. The martial artist pointed at himself in earnest, ignorant to what exactly the big deal was about the sight of Flying Nimbus. 

“A-and the one who shot a l-laser out of his h-hands?!” another monk stuttered as a result of his suppressed fears, his air scooter shrinking down in response. 

“Yep that’s me. What about it?” questioned Goku with a childish face void of self-awareness. Every single one of them propelled their respective scooters, creating a super-sized tornado that piled the unprepared boy with countless fanboyisms, questions, anything really. The unfortunate savior of Earth’s eyes began to roll around in fatigue, making him extremely nauseous. 

“You’re the coolest! That attack or whatever it was seemed more powerful than any type of bending I’ve heard of!”

“Could you do it again?! Please, please, please, pleassssse!” 

“Did you glue that tail on?”

Noticing Goku’s growing apprehension under the mercy of so many hyperactive airbenders, Aang reared right smack dab in the middle of both parties and snapped them out of their entranced stupor over what they considered the unknown. Goku, mentally thanking the monk, slumped over back first into the pavement, his eyes all but black swirls of dizziness. 

“So, you said something about a game?” Aang cheerfully reminded to the make-shift team of airbenders, maintaining his air scooter expectantly. However, instead of continuing to play around like they did before, his friends dissolved their scooters and peered at him awkwardly with sympathetic frowns. Goku, taking note of this sudden change in atmosphere, narrows his black eyebrows. 

“What’s going on?” Aang asked in confusion to what the other monks’ problems were. 

“Now that you’re the Avatar, it’s kind of an unfair advantage for whichever team you’re on.” A tall, lankier airbender expressed reluctantly with a slight shrug of his two hands. 

“But, I’m the still the same! Nothing’s changed…” Aang tried to reason with his usual care-free smile. “… So what? I can’t play?” Aang asked in disbelief as he uncomfortably darted his gray pupils from left to right, looking for anyone to say otherwise. 

“That’s the only fair way.” The tall airbender regretfully sighed with no hint of malice intended in the slightest for his fellow monk. Aang, extremely disappointed by the inherit rejection of his closest friends, took the hint and deactivated his air scooter. 

“Oh, ok…” Aang muttered in the process of walking away with slumped shoulders, eyes drooped down to the floor. As Aang went on ahead, Goku glared at the other kids in anger for their selfish isolation of the boy they once called a friend. If there was one thing Son Goku would never do, it would be turning his back on the people he cared for the most. Krillin, for instance, was a perfect example of that fact. After he died, Goku blindly rushed into battle against Tambourine, even when his chances of winning that particular bout were slim to none. With one last demonstration of the stink eye, Goku harrumphed irritably and started searching for Aang. A collective shiver went down each of the airbending boys’ spines in that moment. 

Aang rested his back against Appa’s soft fur, crouched down in a fetal position of sorrow and loneliness. The light in his jubilant eyes was all but gone, replaced with bristling tears and the darkness of grief. He crossed his arms on top of his knees and rested his head, thinking of everything that happened as a result of becoming the Avatar. A position, frankly, Aang was thrust into without his own accord. 

“I haven’t changed at all since I became the Avatar. Why is everyone suddenly painting me as if I’m something above them?! That they can’t compare to?” Aang muttered sorrowfully, a stray duo of tears streaming down his right and left cheeks. He looks up, searching for answers from a source he doesn’t yet know the existence of. In the blink of an eye, Goku makes his appearance, startling the downcast Aang immeasurably.

“I haven’t.” Goku pried with a blank stare concocted from a feeling the monkey boy has rarely been a known practitioner of: understanding.

“What?” sniffled Aang as he wiped the ensuing tears from his eyes, wondering where Goku was exactly going with this. 

“I mean I haven’t seen you as better than me, Aang. You are the Avatar and junk, but I know for a fact you cannot compare with me power wise. Not yet at least." Goku stated straightforwardly, crossing his arms. Aang inspected his hands, mentally distinguishing the Kamehameha to his blasts of air. There really was no contest in that department. 

“And? How is that supposed to help me? You were only brought to this world to train me! To TRAIN the Avatar how to do your energy projection thing!” Aang scowled harshly, his previous sadness transfiguring into biting antagonism. In response to this, the tattoos aligned on his head and arms glow a harsh white.

“I NEVER EVEN WANTED TO BE THE AVATAR!” Aang roared with intense anguish, his now pupiless eyes brightening up like Avatar Roku’s when Goku was first sent to this dimension. The Saiyan fighting fanatic opens his mouth slightly, impressed by this odd “transformation” the troubled monk somehow underwent.

“His chi just sky-rocketed in a millisecond. A-and why do I feel multiple presences in one single body?” asserted Goku in confusion over the never-before-seen energy signature. The paranormal nature of this bizarre aura triggered the monkey boy’s inner combat aficionado, Saiyan blood flowing through his veins. He couldn’t help, but wonder how much power Aang truly inherited from Roku and his other past lives, piquing his excitement to maximum levels. Aang, on the other hand, was not so impressed by this abrupt display of anger-induced power. 

“I-I don’t know what…what I am anymore…” Aang whimpered miserably, the arrow tattoos splayed all over his body reverting back to their initial blue tinge. Somehow exhausted, the emotionally lost airbender fell onto his knees and hung his head down pathetically. Goku, liking the limitless potential Aang inadvertently displayed, placed a hand shoulder of his eventual student. 

“This was what I meant, Aang. Being the Avatar isn’t what I care about. I care about who you are as a person. And from what I can tell, you’re a whole lot of fun!” Goku pointed out with a content smile. Aang timidly raised his head, elevating an eyebrow in uncertainty.

“But you just met me a few hours ago? How can you be so sure?” Aang grumbled in a half-hearted attempt to push Goku away. 

“Well, back in my world, I had a lot of friends that I’ve met throughout my adventures. Each varied in terms of strength compared to me, but I never once treated them any differently because of it and them me. They all had something special that made them equal to me in importance, just like you!” Goku implored assuredly, patting Aang’s shoulder a few times in cheerfulness. He then narrow his eyes and frowned, thinking of the other airbending children’s disregard to Aang’s feelings. 

“That’s why those baldies were wrong to think that you being the Avatar made you any better than them. You are you, Aang, and no title ain’t ever going to change that, no matter what it means in the grand scheme of things!” Goku simply put in a rare constitution of wise advice. Aang thought about Goku’s words for a short while and directed a pained smile at him, his inner turmoil slightly cleansed…for now. 

“T-thanks Goku…that helped somewhat.” Aang shared his gratitude in the biggest smile he could muster at the moment. Goku repeated the gesture and offered the monk a hand in mannerly fashion afterwards, helping him stand up. The monk, wanting to further better his mood, came up with another stop on his and Goku’s theoretical to-do list. 

“How about we go see what Monk Gyatso is up to? Maybe I can convince him to teach you the rules of Pai Sho!” Aang commented in hope of being able to see his caretaker and closest friend in the entire Southern Air Temple. Goku, stuck in his own little world, drooled at the utterance of “pie” and gleefully bounded in place.

“The old man’s going to show me a pie?! I can’t wait!” Goku hungrily exclaimed. Aang sweat dropped hopelessly and rolled his eyes, getting more and more used to the interdimensional time traveler’s ignorant thick-headedness. Before the monk could even move one foot forward, Goku took note of the brown staff clasped in his right hand. Its smooth design brought back memories of his own Power Pole, the growing red baton he last used to connect Korin’s Tower to the Lookout right before training with Kami. Since he was able to obtain a new version of Nimbus, Goku thought of trying something. 

“Hey, Aang? Do you have any more staffs like yours?” Goku requested to the curious airbending 12-year-old. Not seeing the trouble in giving the naïve hick a glider of his own, Aang walked out of the plaza and lead the suddenly nostalgic Goku to another one of the Southern Air Temple’s many storage areas.

After selecting a staff that was slightly longer and reddish compared to the others, Goku hurriedly followed Aang to the Council of Elders, knowing that a meeting was most likely taking place at this time. Too impatient to wait until Gyatso was dismissed, the duo jumped up to Aang’s original hiding place and viewed the gathering through a separated opening of crowded plant life located near the roof. Down below, Gyatso and Tashi were standing side by side, debating with High Monk Pasang over something important.

“I wonder what they are talking about.” Aang whispered over to Goku almost inaudibly. The ki-user shrugged and placed one of his ears closer to the window, wanting to hear what the older men were saying more so for Aang’s sake than his. Said monk also did the same. 

“Aang must have freedom and fun. He needs to grow up as a normal boy.” Gyatso reasonably proclaimed to the Southern Air Temple’s unbiased leader. Unconvinced, Tashi lowered at his fellow elder and glared with a turn of his head. 

“Hmph, you cannot keep protecting him from his destiny.” Tashi spat with a narrow of his sunken eyes. Pasang took initiative and slowed the progression of their bickering, turning his attention to the emotionally motivated Gyatso.

“Gyatso, I know you mean well. But you are letting your affection for the boy cloud your judgement.” Pasang warned the patient, soft-spoken Gyatso in an attempt to have him listen to reason. 

“All I want is what is best for him.” Gyatso calmly defended himself, justifying why he is so preoccupied with strengthening Aang’s values over his bending abilities at many points during the day.

“But what we need is what is best for the world. The immergence of Goku earlier has proven that actions must be taken now as opposed to later on.” Pasang briskly rebutted Gyatso’s moral motivations in favor of putting into perspective the constant state of the entire world. His intellectual mind transfixed on Goku’s devastating powers, noting how the Avatar’s inheritance of these same ki-blasts could completely wipe out the Fire Nation’s defenses in an instant. A training regiment that, frankly, had to be kickstarted right away in order to receive the intended results. The high monk squinted his eyes southbound in thought of what he should do to guarantee the Avatar’s success. 

“You and Aang must be separated! The Avatar will be sent away with Goku to the Eastern Air Temple to complete his training.” Pasang ultimately commanded to the stunned Gyatso, willing to sacrifice Aang’s happiness for the sake of everyone else’s. Mouth agape in surprise, the old Airbender was left with no choice, but to obey the wishes of his superior. He sadly closed his tired eyes and bowed in defeat. Aang’s gray eyes shrunk in horror, completely mortified by what the Council of Elders was attempting to do. 

“S-separated? No, no, no, no, no! They can’t do this to me!” Aang murmured in a reactionary state of emotional trauma. He broke into a cold sweat, backing away from the window of the council room and clutching his exposed ears in a desperate attempt at denial. First, his friends, abandoned him and now, he would never see Gyatso again? The closest thing he had to a parent? This felt like a bad dream, but it was all too real. Goku’s energy rose a little in annoyance, not liking the elders’ little desperation tactic one bit. Especially, when the Pasang guy used him as an excuse to do so!

“I know this seems bad, Aang, but…Aang?” Goku frantically turned his head around in all directions, catching sight of the distraught Avatar cautiously running to his room. Not wanting his future pupil to do something crazy, Goku frowned and ran after him, the monkey boy’s form phasing out of existence into that of a scratchy streak of orange and black.

After running to his room in a hazy period of depressive wooziness, Aang made his way to the nearest windowsill and slumped forward. He gloomily rested his head on the edge of the stone wall and observed the figures of his fellow airbenders, watching them play around on their air scooters in laughing fits of content. Sadly reminded of the fact that he would never be able to spend time with them again after Pasang’s intervention, he moved away from the window and laid down on his bed. Aang felt scared, confused, and saddened all at the same time in that precise moment. He clutched his pillow like a lifeline, having absolutely no idea what he would do without Gyatso there to provide comfort. 

“Why does being the Avatar have to be so complicated!” Aang mentally screamed in sorrowful distress, fresh tears staining the yellow pillow case of his cushioned headrest. With the ever-looming prospect of Gyatso being taken away from him, the airbending expert lost all hope and resorted to an action that would help take away the stresses brought forth because of his status as the Avatar: running away. He knew nothing good would come from this decision in the long run, but due to everything he cherished in life falling apart before his very eyes, Aang was left with that as his only option. 

“Forgive me, Gyatso…but…but…I-I can’t handle this.” Aang thought regretfully, wiping away tears with his sleeve and swallowing a prominent lump in his throat. He then gathered a piece of paper, some ink, and a paint brush from his drawer, writing down a letter to Gyatso that explained why he exactly did what he did. In the process of doing so, Goku slammed open the wooden door of Aang’s room in apprehension. 

“Aang, what are you doing?” Goku asked suspiciously, lifting up his head to sneak a peek at what the Avatar was writing. Aang, ignoring the ki-manipulating martial artist to focus on his work, scanned the note’s contents and rolled it up from top to bottom, tying it together with a piece of red string. He then neatly placed it in the center of his bed and turned to face Goku, a look of hurt contrasting the monkey boy’s look of uncertainty. 

“I’m leaving, Goku. Hopefully someplace where the Avatar isn’t needed.” Aang firmly revealed to the individual from another world in pure misery. Goku, seeing this as a slight hindrance to his plans of getting back home, did not exactly agree with what Aang was deciding to do, but fully understood the tight position he was forcibly cornered into. It didn’t matter what time he trained Aang how to use ki, so he might as well go with what the monk wanted. 

“Then I’ll go with you! Just in case there’s chance you might get seriously injured. That won’t bode well for me or anyone else living in your world.” Goku difficultly offered to join Aang on his escape plan. Not exactly assured that Goku wouldn’t pressure him on his duties as the Avatar like the others, Aang smiled slightly in appreciation anyway and packed a small bag of his belongings. With everything of importance gathered together, Aang and Goku carefully left the room, closing the large door behind them for good measure. 

Succeeding in not garnering the attention of wandering monks and/or nuns, the airbender and the ki-user called upon their respective modes of transportation. Carefully waking Appa up from his nap while other Sky Bison his size and smaller proceeded to sleep, Aang placed his trusty saddle on top of his pet’s back once more and prepared for take-off. He tucked his staff securely in the back of the saddle with other items of immense importance to him, rolled up in a tightly compressed ball. However, just as Goku sat down on Nimbus, something off-putting caught the attention of his black orbs. In the distance, darkened clouds of larger than average size clumped together, traces of thunder flashing within them. Clutching his maroon staff in concern, Goku brought Nimbus closer to the side of Appa.

“Aang, what should we do about those clouds further beyond? I can tell a storm is going to happen and a big one too!” Goku predicted in fear of the type of damage this weather phenomenon could bring about if not avoided in time. Aang bit his lip and gulped, grasping the reigns of Appa’s saddle tightly. 

“Maybe it will pass on once we fly there. Don’t worry about it too much.” Aang assured in uncertainty of where exactly this expedition would bring them. Goku just nodded slowly, not in the least bit soothed by the airbending monk’s disingenuous words of encouragement.

“Yip-yip!” Aang dolefully shouted out to his animal partner since early childhood. Appa gladly obeyed the gesture and lifted off from the ground, groaning as he flew further away from the Southern Air Temple. Goku maneuvered the Nimbus Cloud to follow the fully matured Sky Bison on his left side, slowing it down just a smidge. Aang turned his head to look at his birthplace, memories of all sorts circling around in his subconscious mind. One last tear fell in response to a mental image of Monk Gyatso’s smiling face. 

“Goodbye…” Aang perceived as an inaudible departure to the person he respected the most. The air temple all but a small speck now, Aang encouraged Appa to go faster with a careful smack of his rope. Moving closer to the ocean encircling the southern portion of the world, Aang and Goku failed to notice drops of rain descending from the sky one by one at faster speeds. Then, a massive bolt of lightning made its presence known.

Not at all pleased with Pasang’s order to send Aang to the Eastern Air Temple, Monk Gyatso decided to take actions into his own hands and find the boy someplace safer to stay for the time being. He wanted to keep Goku’s appearance marginally under wraps as well, knowing the extremes each nation would go just to get an ounce of Goku’s bottomless strength. Mainly, the Fire Nation and its massive armada of troops. The airbending elder knocked on Aang’s wooden door, causing it to creak open just a crack.  
“Aang, I’m not going to let them take you away from me.” Monk Gyatso whispered, half of his body poking out of the entrance to Aang’s room. However, once Gyatso opened it completely, he was startled to see that no one was there!  
“Aang?” Gyatso puzzlingly questioned to thin air. His eyes darted to a scroll laying on the Avatar’s bed, untying the knot keeping the writing inside disclosed to the outside world. After opening the scroll to see what his young friend had wrote, Gyatso gasped in terror at the knowledge that Aang ran away, Goku included from what he could infer. Horrified by what this could mean for the entire world, Gyatso turned his attention to the windowsill, bullets of rain pouring uncontrollably in a cacophony of intense lightning strikes. 

The present storm seen by Goku at the start of their departure escalated to levels of danger equal to that of his most difficult brawls. Skies corroded into sickly greens, hovering above a raging ocean of towering brown waves splashing at unprecedented heights. Water droplets hammered down on the two unfortunate kids, blowing their senses of direction off course and slamming them inadvertently closer to the seas below. No longer able to regain control of either Nimbus or Appa, the monk and the martial artist were knocked straight out of the air by a stray thunderbolt, both of them defenseless to the harsh forces of nature at work. 

“GRAAAAAAGH!” screamed Goku and Aang simultaneously as they hung onto their respective mounts with all the strength they could muster. Bracing for impact, the duo plummeted into the depths of the ocean with a huge splash, Nimbus unable to move at all in deprivation of its most prominent state of being. Appa desperately attempted to poke his head out of the water to provide breath for himself and the two boys, but was swiftly smacked unconscious by a massive wave. All three were now out of commission, victims of a storm they weren’t anticipating in the slightest. Hope seemed completely lost until Aang’s tattoos glowed a white hue, putting him in a state of auto pilot. Suddenly granted enough power to save him, Goku, Nimbus, and Appa from drowning, the practically possessed Aang narrowed his white eyes and slammed his two fists together, producing a powerful shockwave of air. This air, combined with the waters of the ocean, cooled to a point where everyone, including a passed out Goku, were completely encased in a sphere of ice. The iceberg then settled in the ocean’s lower depths, resting there until something or someone would release the Avatar and his interdimensional friend.


	6. 100 Years Later...

100 years have passed on since Goku and Aang’s unexpected frozen slumber in the southernmost corners of the Earth. Sadly, without the Avatar there to stop his goals for global conquest from taking place, Fire Lord Sozin took initiative and committed mass genocide on the airbenders, utilizing the power of a nearby comet to burn each air temple to the ground. However, despite not killing the proverbial thorn in his side as intended, the elderly emperor was shocked to receive intel on another individual previously residing there. After personally torturing one of the monks for more details, he discovered the identity of a monkey-tailed boy who was able to fire a beam of shining blue light out of his fingertips! This imposing ability greatly unnerved Sozin, knowing full well that not even the chi pathways utilized in his strongest fire blasts could compare to such massive displays of pulsating energy. Fearing for the Fire Nation’s future, the former best friend of Avatar Roku spent his remaining years seeking answers as to how this 15-year-old brat was able to unlock chi of said caliber without the necessity of bending the four elements! He scoured the globe almost religiously, directing a battalion of ships to find the Avatar and this “Goku” in desperation to preserve his rightful place as the most powerful person on the planet. After his death, word of mouth began to spread around the Fire Nation of a more sophisticated variation of life energy that could both surpass firebending and, most interestingly, strengthen it to levels once thought impossible in generations past. These curiosities were inherited by Sozin’s son, Azulon, and his own children onwards. In fact, the pale-skinned Fire Lord was so obsessed with the prospect of seeing this “Kamehameha” fired up close and personal, he organized a group of the finest firebenders in the country to train themselves relentlessly in hopes that torturing themselves would be enough to expand their inner auras and heighten their five senses enough to track one another’s presences as the fabled martial artist was rumored to do. This “Ki Force” ,as it would be coined later on, failed to meet the intended results Azulon was looking for. Despite this, after he died in “his sleep” at the age of 95, a select few firebenders were closer to using ki in its most refined state than they realized, a prospect that would escalate the 100 Year War from bad to even worse.  
The people of the subjugated Earth Kingdom and Water Tribes began to lose all hope, some believing that the Avatar was either long dead or a coward who turned his back on those who needed him in their darkest hours. But what the world didn’t realize was that the last airbender was closer to arriving than they initially thought, his current sanctum floating towards the rigorous tundra of the Southern Water Tribe. And, much to this dimension’s luck, he came alongside a young boy who already saved his own birthplace many times over and would eventually do so again for another.

In the year 99 AG, two young teenagers are sailing on a canoe in between large pillars of ice. One, situated near the back of the tribal vessel, is a brown-skinned girl with long hair of a darker shade tied back in a braid. This hair extension is concealed by the furred hood of her light blue parka, a winter coat which has a purple stripe-like design lined vertically across her chest. On both sides of her forehead, two thin loops of hair are attached by small circular beads that extend to the back of the neck. She focuses on the movement of the water as the wooden boat streaks forward, crystal blue irises deep in concentration. Sitting on the opposite side of the canoe, a boy of the same skin color positions a sharp spear in his gloved right hand, his own light blue eyes leering downward in anticipation. He wears a navy-blue winter coat with three strands of individual white fur extending off of the front edge of his hood, long brown combat boots placed neatly on the floorboards of his watercraft. The most notable feature of the boy is his short pony tail, conjoined with a flat strip of dark brown hair. 

“It’s not getting away from me this time.” The Southern Water Tribe native boldly proclaims as a small fish darts closer to the tip of the canoe’s submerged bottom. He glances at the girl with a confident smirk as if catching the marine creature will be worth absolutely no effort edgewise.

“Watch and learn, Katara. This is how you catch a fish.” Sokka boasts to his newly revealed sister, Katara. Not buying his bravado in the slightest, she quickly darts her attention back to where she was previously looking, startled to see another fish swimming idly by. Making sure Sokka was still preoccupied with his next catch, Katara swiftly removes one of her mittens and outstretches the currently uncovered hand in the direction of the creature. Taking a deep breath, she begins the process of moving her hand up and down in a wavy motion. As a result of her odd ritualistic gesture, the frigid ocean’s water glows to life and a large bubble containing her primary target steadily rises up. 

“Sokka, look!” Katara happily beams in astonishment as to what she just executed. Sokka, blissfully unaware, continues to look hungrily at his prey with a sense of euphoria befalling him. 

“Sshh! Katara you’re going to scare it away. Mmmm…I can already smell it cookin’.” Sokka whispered in a starvation-induced trance of insatiable desire for seafood. Frustrated, Katara persists in trying to garner her older brother’s acknowledgement by struggling to move the rippling orb of water higher in the air. Her face contorts slightly in discomfort, showing difficult this ability is to maintain consistently.

“But, Sokka! I caught one!” Katara joyfully protested to the still distractedly preoccupied Sokka, hovering the bubble high above the tan teen’s head in order for him to see it better. Oblivious to the placement of the levitating water construct, Sokka raises up his spear to pierce the intended target he was focusing on, only to inadvertently burst Katara’s bubble (literally) in the process. This both results in the fish Katara previously trapped jumping back into the sea and Sokka being drenched in a puddle of falling water.

“Hey!” Katara shouts in annoyance for her bending handiwork being put to waste in an instant. Sokka throws his spear down in irritation and glares at his seemingly inconsiderate kid sister. 

“Why is it that every time you play with magic water, I get soaked?” Sokka angrily yells at Katara as drops of excess water fly off his gloves and slumped pony tail. The loop-haired girl sighs, probably having to correct him multiple times on a daily basis concerning the same subject.

“It’s not “magic”, it’s waterbending! And it’s…” Katara’s lecture on the special significance of her abilities was rudely interrupted by Sokka, rolling his eyes whilst ringing the leftover water out of his “warrior’s wolf knot” as he would insist it be called.

“Yeah, yeah, “an ancient art unique to our culture”, blah blah blah. Look, I’m just saying that if I had weird powers, I’d keep my weirdness to myself.” Sokka obnoxiously administers to his younger sibling, her arms crossed in annoyance. 

“You’re calling me weird? I’m not the one who makes muscles at myself every time I see my reflection in the water!” Katara snorted with a skeptical raise of her eyebrow and a smug grin. Sokka unconsciously does what was described and rolls up his sleeve to flex a bicep, smirking in satisfaction at the results. Before any more snide remarks can be uttered, their canoe is suddenly sent into a rapid current directing them towards intersecting pieces of small ice blocks. Frantically trying to save their lives, Sokka uses a paddle to increase the pace of the fishing contraption and thankfully evades a pair of colliding icebergs that were about to smash said canoe to pieces. 

“Watch out! Go left! Go left!” Katara warned apprehensively in a state of panic. Unfortunately, Sokka steers it in the opposite direction, causing three glacial chunks to pin the canoe in place. Seeing that the boat’s days are all but numbered, the two Water Tribe youths jump towards a floating platform of ice in order to save themselves. Katara props her body just near the edge while Sokka pins his spear in place to keep himself from falling over. She then shuffles her feet backwards to sit beside her brother, glancing at him in contempt.

“You call that left?” Katara scolded with a hint of bitterness in her voice. 

“You don’t like my steering? Well maybe you should’ve waterbended us out of the ice.” scoffed the son of Hakoda as he mockingly waves his arms around in a half-hearted imitation of the previously performed elemental technique. 

“So it’s my fault?” Katara questioned indignantly with her temper steadily beginning to rise. She gets up on her feet, back facing a massive mountain of frozen material arched upward. Sokka sits in a crouched position, a look of expectant irritation plastered on his face. 

“I knew I should’ve left you home! Leave it to a girl to screw things up!” ranted Sokka frustratedly, closed his eyes in annoyance as if this was an outcome he should have seen coming from the beginning. Katara’s emotional state reaches its boiling point, her eyes twitching in unbridled fury for the absolute garbage that was just dumped out of Sokka’s mouth. 

“You are the most sexist, immature, nut brained…I’m embarrassed to be related to you!” Katara harshly growled with a fury-induced wave of her arms. This unfocused motion results in ripples of water nearby to splash erratically, shooting up a very prominent crack in the frozen structure resting behind her! Sokka, attempting to ignore his sister’s disrespectful comments, notices this display of power and widens his eyes in fright. 

“Ever since mom died, I’ve been doing all the work around camp while you’ve been off playing soldier!” Katara proceeds to scream disgustedly in outrage, swaying her arms backward once more to deepen the impression she just left behind. 

“Uh…Katara…” a terrified Sokka stutters in a desperate attempt at convincing Katara to stop her tantrum. He shakily points up with his blue mitten, but the waterbending rookie is too caught up in her own personal resentment to notice. 

“I even wash all the clothes! Have you ever smelled your dirty socks? Let me tell you, not pleasant!” Katara points accusingly to the boy in further critique of his past grievances. At the last two words, she blindly waterbends once again and imprints two more smaller cracks in the exterior of the iceberg. 

“Katara, settle down!” Sokka screeches in horror, his blue eyes wide as saucers in response to his sister’s wrathful demonstration of what she is capable of when upset.

“No that’s it! I’m done helping you! From now on, you’re on your own!” Katara bellowed furiously as she slammed her arms down, producing a giant geyser sized wave that splits the neighboring ice structure in half! No longer blind to the profound damage she is causing, Katara gasps as the berg separates in two and collapses in multiple pieces of varying sizes. These shards crash into the water, producing an enormous wave that pushes Sokka and Katara’s resting place backward by a few feet. Both lying down, Sokka lays a protective arm over his sister’s back to keep her from accidentally falling in the water. 

“Okay, you’ve gone from “weird” to “freakish”, Katara.” Sokka sighs scornfully, relieved that Katara’s carnage was able to cease in time before things escalated even further. 

“You mean I did that?” Katara breathed out in astonishment at how far her emotions got the better of her. 

“Yep. Congratulations.” Sokka praised sarcastically with a condescending smirk and nudge at her feathered shoulder. Suddenly, the water lying in front of them is lit by an ominous blue glow that gradually expands in size, semi-circular bubbles bristling about on the surface. Sokka and Katara stand back in surprise, the odd light revealed to be permeating from a large encasement of ice that juts out of the ocean with a just as noticeable series of splashes! Aang rests within the ice in a lotus position, his arrow tattoos currently glowing a brilliant white. While the massive figure of Appa resides on top of him, Goku is laid out to his right, monkey tail limply outstretched near the bottom of the iceberg. The martial artist’s eyes are closed, still unconscious even after a whole century has passed since the dreaded storm took place. Nimbus is not far from its navigator, positioned to the left of the meditating Avatar. Katara looks upon this strange spectacle in confusion, mentally wondering who these two people were and why they were in the South Pole. Just as she raises one of her thin eyebrows, Aang’s shut eyelids lift up, revealing a pair of glowing white pupils. 

“One of them is alive! We have to help!” Katara exclaims in concern, snatching a club concealed in the back of Sokka’s jacket. She then puts her hood up and rushes towards the iceberg’s location, hopping from ice block to ice block. 

“Katara, get back here! We don’t know what that thing is! There’s something with a tail in there for crying out loud!” Sokka protested as he pulled his spear out of the ice and followed after her. Katara ignored his objections and began wailing on the frigid sphere, each swing progressively getting harder as she went on. By the fifth strike, a large gust of cold steam sizzles out, sending the Southern Water Tribe natives flying a few feet away from the 100-year-old dome. A crack spreads around the entire iceberg, completely destroying it in a beam of light that propels upward towards the surrounding sky. 

This large output of spiritual energy is witnessed by a 16-year-old boy wearing a black-red military uniform with gray sleeves and pant legs. His head is completely bald except for a long black pony tail extending from the back. The most prominent characteristic of this bad-tempered teen is a pink and red scar surrounding his left eye, concealing the brilliant gold iris that it used to be. He stares shocked at the sudden display of power before frowning in satisfaction at what this could mean. 

“Finally!” the pale-skinned boy whispers contentedly with a clench of his teeth. He turns around to address another individual aboard the metallic Fire Nation warship: a short old man wearing a similar set of armor with long gray hair tied up in a neat bun. He has a sharp goatee of the same color and a pair of pointed muttonchops as well.

“Uncle, do you realize what this means?!” The boy excitedly shouts to his familial relative. The elderly resident of the Fire Nation has a tired, bored look on his face, lazily glancing up from a card game he was playing in that same moment.

“I won’t get to finish my game?” asked the old man with little interest in what his nephew was about to say.

“It means my search is about to come to an end.” The ill-tempered young man boldly proclaimed as he looks at the otherworldly beacon in hope that he would finally be able to return home with his honor intact. The Fire Nation elder sighs in exasperation, not having the patience to deal with Prince Zuko’s constant speeches about finding the Avatar and this mythical “Son Goku” Fire Lord Sozin constantly wrote about in past manuscripts. 

“That light came from an incredibly powerful source! It has to be them!” Zuko angrily shouted while pointing to the dissipating energy beam, noting its remarkably similar appearance to the rumored “Kamehameha” lauded throughout the Fire Nation.

“Or it’s just the celestial lights. We’ve been down this road before, Prince Zuko. I don’t want you to get too excited over nothing.” The brother of the Fire Lord skeptically warned to the boy while continuing to play his game. He sets down a stone tile marked with the trademark symbol for airbending and matches it with a Fire Nation insignia card. 

“Please, sit. Why don’t you enjoy a cup of calming Jasmine tea?” the old Fire Nation inhabitant calmly suggests to his high-strung nephew, hoping to purge him of his currently building fury. This, unsurprisingly, doesn’t help much.

“I don’t need any calming tea! What I need is to capture the Avatar and help my father discover the secrets behind this “chi-user’s” power! Helmsman, head a course for the light!” Zuko aggressively snaps at his overly relaxed uncle. He points in the direction from which to travel and the captain of his boat reciprocates the command, sailing onward.

Sokka and Katara cower close together, the boy clasping his spear in a combat-ready position. The atmosphere surrounding the dismantled iceberg still glowing profusely, a possessed Aang crawls out of the wreckage and stands up on his two feet for the first in an entire century.

“Stop!” Sokka commands to the unknown child, brandishing his spear while trying to sound as intimidating as possible. Aang’s arrow tattoos revert back to their original blue color, taking the glowing sheen along with him. Groaning in exhaustion, the monk loses his footing and falls over passed out. Katara, worried for his safety, catches him before he can hit the ground. Still suspicious, Sokka turns over his spear and pokes at Aang’s bald head a few times. 

“Stop it!” Katara shouts angrily, slapping away the hunting weapon. In that moment, Aang slowly opens his drooped eyes, the first thing he sees being the beautiful face of Katara. Recognizing the fact that she is from one of the two Water Tribes, he decided to ask the first thing that came to mind.

“I need to ask you something…” Aang weakly mutters to the curious waterbender. 

“What?” Katara asks, unsure of what this strange kid would want from her specifically.

“Please…come closer.” The Avatar tiredly pleads to the further interested denizen of the South Pole. 

“What is it? Katara questions with an anticipatory smile on her tan face. Aang closes his eyes before sporting a happy-go-lucky beam of childish joy.

“Will you go penguin sledding with me?” The airbending monk gleefully inquired with a playful widen of his gray eyes. This takes Katara completely off-guard, one of her dark brown eyebrows arched up in confusion. One moment this kid produces a giant explosion of energy and in the next, he innocently asks to play around as if nothing happened at all. There was something unusual about this guy that she couldn’t quite put her finger on. 

“Uh, sure…I-I guess.” Katara awkwardly agrees to the foreign monk’s admittedly enjoyable request. Aang props himself back up with a gust of wind, impressing Katara and shocking Sokka back into a fighting stance.

“What’s going on here?” asked a puzzled Aang as he rubs his head and looks around the surrounding premises, not recalling much of what happened during the storm.

“You tell us! How did you get in the ice? And why aren’t you frozen?” Sokka growled out accusingly as he pointed at the massive crater of ice produced from the explosion. He then poked Aang a few times in the stomach with the pointed tip of his spear, an action the monk simply brushed aside like an irksome fly. 

“I’m…not sure. The last thing I recall was flying with my friend G-“ Aang’s discarded thoughts were interrupted by the remembrance of his friend from another world. His gray eyes inexplicably pop out of their sockets and his look of confused ignorance is replaced by panic. 

“GOKU! I have to see if he’s ok!” Aang shouts out concernedly, running up to the top of the ice crater’s ridge and hopping down. Katara and Sokka, surprised to see the boy suddenly shift in mood, glance at each other.

“Goku?” The Southern Water Tribe siblings repeat the unseen monkey boy’s name in unison. Curious to see who this “friend” was, Katara and Sokka walk around the corner following Aang’s general direction. 

From within the crater, the large immobile body of Aang’s beloved Sky Bison rests on top of his six legs, propped right next to Aang’s primary target of concern. Goku unconsciously uses Appa’s blanket of fur as a pillow, loudly snoring away in dreamland with a little bit of spittle falling out of his mouth. His brown tail is coiled around his torso like a belt, mirroring the appearance of other Saiyan warriors even if he doesn’t realize it. Spotting the martial artist’s distinguished helm of spiky hair, Aang sighs in relief and leaps toward him with a little bit of improvement using airbending. 

“Come on, Goku! Wake up!” Aang shouted while roughly shaking the monkey boy’s shoulders back and forth. No matter how much force he put into it, Goku remained asleep alongside Appa, muttering incoherent food-related names and dishes. Seeing this as a possible advantage, Aang got closer to one of Goku’s ears and cupped his mouth with a hand. 

“Goku! Dinner’s ready!” the monk yelled at the same level of audibility. At the mention of something eating related, Goku’s round eyes instinctively shot open. He jumps on his two feet and darts his head around, excitedly searching for what was promised.

“Food?! Where?” Goku happily beams with his tongue sticking out. Surprised that that actually worked how he wanted it to, Aang garners the monkey’s boy distracted attention by patting him on the shoulder apologetically. Goku blankly looks at the monk in bewilderment. 

“Oh hey Aang! Do you know where we are? Cause…” Goku begins to shiver uncontrollably, grabbing the sides of his body in a desperate attempt to stay warm. Close by, Sokka and Katara appear from around the crater’s side, spotting the orange-clad porcupine looking kid. Their opinions of the boy are mixed to say the least.

“Talk about bed-head…” Sokka mentally joked, never seeing a head of hair as ridiculous as this guy’s in his entire life. However, what made him on-edge about this Goku was the fact that he looked similar to the people of the Fire Nation…almost too similar. Another quality that was odd about him was the brown monkey tail growing out of his butt. That…that was too bizarre to even put into words, so he just quietly kept his guard up and remained close to Katara. 

“I-it’s f-freezing o-out h-here!” Goku whined with a drop of excess snot leaking from his right nostril. Aang, realizing that his friend was as normal as he’ll ever be, jumps onto his snoozing Sky Bison and lifts up one of his eyelids to see if the animal’s conscious. 

“It’s time to wake up, buddy.” Aang calmly coerced the tired Appa into awakening from his slumber. Sokka, finally noticing the massive creature, becomes slack-jawed in a mix of disbelief and fear while Katara is merely amazed. The peaceful monk then squats down in front of Appa’s snout and struggles to lift up his chin. By doing so, the air-powered buffalo greets his owner with a lick and yawns in the form of a low groan. He ruffles up his fur in a slight stretch and stands up on his six feet, ready to follow through with whatever Aang is planning to do. 

“What is that thing?” Sokka stated indignantly while defensively pointing his spear at Appa. 

“This is Appa, my flying bison.” Aang joyfully introduced to the two Water Tribe siblings, gesturing one of his arms towards the mythical creature.

“Right, and this is Katara, my flying sister.” Sokka sarcastically remarked with a thumb lazily gestured towards the girl. Just as Aang was about to question the boy on what he meant, Appa’s face contorts in discomfort and he takes a deep inward breath, resulting in a quite sizable sneeze that covers the unsuspecting Sokka in a blast of green mucus. Revolted, Sokka attempts to wipe off the nasal residue with up-and-down swipes at his sleeves and a painful scrubbing of his face on the icy floor. This only results in green slime being practically glued to the side of his face, causing Sokka to let out a squeal of disgust and Katara to place a glove over her mouth in horror. 

“Don’t worry it’ll wash out. So, do you guys live around here?” Aang cheerfully changed the subject of the conversation in an attempt to getting to know more about the people who accidentally freed him and Goku from their sub-zero prison. Said adopted grandson of Son Gohan stops shaking like a dog in favor of listening in on the conversation. 

“Don’t answer that! Did you see that crazy bolt of light?! He was probably trying to signal the Fire Navy!” Sokka suspiciously accuses the airbending monk of being a possible spy for the world’s greatest enemy. As a source of evidence, he directs the position of his spear at the distracted Goku, still hopelessly cold to the touch and unsure of how to go about remedying the environmental backlash. 

“And he is a prime suspect!” Sokka coldly expresses in a combat-oriented position. Confused by what the boy was implying, Goku raises an eyebrow and scratches his head like an oblivious primate.

“Huh? W-what d-did I do?” a perplexed Goku wonders aloud, his tail curved around in the form of a question mark. Sokka sizes up the boy’s body, giving him some sort of old-fashioned security check with multiple dirty looks thrown in.

“Don’t you think you’re jumping to conclusions just a little bit, Sokka?” Katara crosses her arms, unimpressed by Sokka’s little display of “detective work”. Still wanting to prove Goku’s place of origin, the Eskimo boy rudely tugs at Goku’s hair with one hand and points at his pale white skin with another. 

“Black hair, white skin…all signs point to him being from the Fire Nation! Look, he even has a weird symbol on his chest! Tell me that doesn’t scream suspicious!” Sokka lashed out with an almost pleading look at his still unpersuadable sister. Goku, annoyed, lightly slaps the teen’s hands off of him and lifts up part of his gi, inspecting the insignia of the Kame-Sennin. It depicts a curved “Z” in black lettering with two rectangular windows drawn through, a smaller one on top and a much wider one beneath it. 

“That’s the symbol of the Turtle School of martial arts, not those Fire Nation jerks. Why would I ever want to be friends with those monsters?” Goku bitterly emphasized with a deep narrow of his sable eyebrows, resting both hands on his hips in offense. Sokka was left a bit speechless by this hate-filled remark, mouth wide open in surprise and little a bit of soreness from the “tap” Goku just gave him. 

“See, Sokka, there’s nothing be worried about! I mean, come on. Could a spy of the Fire Navy really have a face like this?” placated Katara as she pushed her brother’s spear away and laid her gloved hand towards the area Aang was standing on. Said airbender smiled on command, a twinkle of child-like wonder in his grey eyes. Sokka just grumbled to himself, still not trusting these two “mystery men” one bit.

“Alright, with hostilities out of the way, let’s start over. As you probably gathered, I’m Katara and the paranoid one is my older brother, Sokka. You never told us your name.” Katara properly greeted to the unintentional tourists, eager to know more about where they came from. 

“I’m A…a-a-a-Achoo!” A sudden sneeze was unleashed by Aang, creating a gust of air that speedily rockets him into the heavens above! As a result of wind smacking against the ground, Katara and Sokka fail to completely shield themselves from the sudden breeze, knocking off the girl’s hood. Goku’s mood quickly improves, stupidly grinning at the height Aang was able to reach with his mastery over airbending. After hanging in the sky for a few seconds, Aang succumbs to the effects of gravity and slides to safety using one of the ice crater’s surrounding walls, skidding to an abrupt halt. 

“I’m Aang.” The Avatar beams with a slight sniffle of his nose. Goku’s gives the monk a giddy thumbs up of approval while Sokka and Katara are absolutely flabbergasted by the anomaly that just took place before their very eyes. 

“You just sneezed and flew ten feet in the air!” Sokka gulped in absolute disbelief, pointing to the sky in further emphasis of his amazement. 

“Really? It felt higher than that.” Aang nonchalantly argued with an unsure look at the sky he just landed from. Playing back the elemental abilities the boy just so casually showed off, a figurative lightbulb appeared over Katara’s head. 

“You’re an airbender!” The Southern Water Tribe girl gasped in recognition of the long thought dead elemental practice. 

“Sure am!” Aang nodded to confirm Katara’s assumption to be true. Seeing that the young 12-year-old has such rare bending powers, the waterbending girl diverted her full attention to Goku in further comprehension.

“Goku, right? I know you don’t look like one, but are you an airbender as well?” Katara politely queried to the alien monkey boy, trying her best not to pay too much attention to his abnormal appendage until later on. Sokka silently chortled, an action that resulted in a harsh elbow jab to the right side. The tribal warrior cried out in pain while Katara patiently waited for Goku’s chance to speak. 

“Well, I’m not what Aang is, but I can do what he just did.” Goku calmly evaluated, hiding an excited smile threatening to break out. Katara and Sokka both raised their eyebrows while Aang stood in anticipation, unsure of what physical prowess Goku’s ki could enable. The martial artist cracked his knuckles and stretched both of his legs in preparation, releasing small bits of energy as he did so. An invisible aura leaked out of the 15-year-old, thickening the surrounding air and putting more weight on Katara, Sokka, Aang, and Appa’s individual shoulders. Done warming up, Goku’s bent down his small knees and placed one hand on the glacial surface. 

“Why do I feel heavier all of a sudden? Goku, what did you-“ Before she could properly collect her thoughts, a flash of orange, black, and blue ascended into the air at unforeseeable speeds, surpassing Aang’s jump in mere seconds! The resulting shockwave of Goku’s ki-enhanced jump shook the floating ice crater back and forth, knocking Katara, Sokka, and Aang off balance and throwing poor Appa on his side. After almost touching the Earth’s upper atmosphere, Goku slowly floated back down, landing on his own two feet as if he didn’t weigh anything at all. 

“How was that, guys? Pretty good for a non-bender, huh?” Goku cheered with a wide toothy smile, holding up a sign of victory. The four victims of Goku’s short “performance” groaned in pain, struggling to stand up on jelly-filled legs of nervousness. Katara was the first to recover, absolutely awed by the sheer power Kami’s #1 student just displayed.

“Y-you said you were a martial artist?” Katara struggled to ask, unable to truly come to terms with the fact that simple karate or kung fu was all that Goku needed to execute that giant leap. 

“Yep, I was trained by the Turtle Hermit, Master Roshi!” Goku nodded in recollection of the days he spent performing manual labor with Krillin by his side. A dumbfounded Sokka propped himself up with the aid of his spear and eye-rolled irritably. 

“Giant light beams, flying bison, airbenders, turtle martial arts masters…I think I got midnight sun madness. I’m going home to where stuff makes sense.” Sokka attempted to walk off of the ice crater to some other area, but suddenly realized that due to the destruction of his and Katara’s canoe, he had absolutely no idea how to get back to where he first came from. Feeling somewhat guilty about their predicament, Aang launched himself onto Appa’s back with a fluid 360-degree current of air. 

“Well, if you guys are stuck, Appa and I can give you a lift.” Aang helpfully offered to the stranded siblings. At the prospect of riding on a Sky Bison for the first time, Katara optimistically agrees without argument. 

“We’d love a ride! Thanks!” Katara happily accepted Aang’s request and ran to sit in Appa’s intricately designed saddle. Sokka, thinking back to the fire hose of mucus that was Appa’s schnoz, was not as gung-ho about the idea in the slightest. 

“Oh no! I’m not getting on that fluffy snot monster!” Sokka spitefully protested with a wave of his spear. Goku, on the other hand, is looking around for something that he could have sworn was with him when the iceberg was first created. Stumped, the simple-minded martial artist walks up to the northmost ridge of the ice crater and leans forward.

“NIMBUSSSS!” Goku loudly shouts out to the South Pole’s forthcoming horizon, praying that this tactic will reveal his primary mode of transportation. Sokka, the closest to the monkey boy in that moment, cringes painfully and covers his ears in retaliation. 

“Gah! I’m standing right here, kid! Did you really have to-?” Sokka’s whiny complaints are interrupted by the appearance of a distant figure, both picking up speed and closer proximity. This figure is the Flying Nimbus, coming back from a quick run of the neighboring premises after the iceberg was dismantled. After spotting its rider, the grey cloud plummets into the wide-open arms of Goku, starting an improbable sort of hugging session. 

“There you are, Nimbus! I was so worried!” Goku sniggered contentedly as the somewhat living cloud rubbed its “puff” against the boy’s cheek. Sokka pinched his arm to see if he was in some sort of dream world, weirded out to the absolute highest level. Katara, now sitting in Appa’s saddle, crawled over closer to Aang.

“Did that cloud just appear when Goku called for it? How is that possible?” Katara whispered in dire need of an explanation for this impossible occurrence.

“He found it somewhere near my home, the Southern Air Temple. But keep watching. It’s what Goku does with Nimbus that will really amaze you.” Aang elaborated wholeheartedly with a look of knowing mischief. Katara, interested, raises up her body to get a better look.

“If you don’t want to ride Appa, you can give Nimbus a try, Soaka!” Goku offered while parking the cloud in place and patting it affectionately. At the mispronunciation of his name, Sokka’s mood darkens and he angrily marches over to the Flying Nimbus.

“It’s Sokka and what can a cloud do to help get me home?! Clouds aren’t solid! They’re…” Sokka’s most recent rant is put to a swift end as Goku effortlessly jumps onto the magical cloud and stays there. His blue irises widen to the size of donuts and he immediately convulses over in utter stupefaction. 

“H-how a-re you doing that?! I-it’s scientifically impossible!” faltered the tongue-tied Sokka while clutching his aching brain. Katara also had a similar reaction, but was more so laced with a sense of admiration over bafflement.

“I don’t know much about science, but what I do know is that only the pure of heart can ride the Flying Nimbus. Including me.” Goku advised in a slight sense of warning due to prior experience. Sokka, wanting to see this “magic” for himself, rolled up the sleeves of his coat and sported a fierce glare of determination. 

“Pure of heart? That’s the best you could think of? Feh! Move over, Goku! I’m going to prove that this cloud is nothing but a trick!” Sokka ignorantly boasted to the concerned monkey boy. He struggled to climb on top of the ice crater’s upper walls and stood up afterwards. Taking up a running start, Sokka launched himself off of the crater and dropped onto the Nimbus. His feet settle on the cloud, seemingly remaining there without struggle.

“See? Just a stupid-“ Before he could finish basking in his own glory, Sokka’s entire body unceremoniously falls through the Flying Nimbus! He careens toward the ice back-first, quickly smacking against it…hard. Completely stricken with vertebral pain, Sokka quietly moans and he twitches uncomfortably. 

“Snot monster it is then…” Sokka grunts in bruise-filled dizziness. Katara, Aang, and Goku then all look at each other blankly before breaking out in uproarious laughter at the Water Tribe boy’s expense. After recovering from this failed attempt at disproving Nimbus’s mystical properties, Sokka begrudgingly climbed aboard Appa with his sister and waited for Aang to take them back home.


	7. Guilt and Lies

Sokka sports a sour expression of disappointment, arms crossed in waiting to see Aang’s oversized pet somehow do the unthinkable and “fly” without wings. His narrowed eyes dart to the side of the Sky Bison’s frame, grumbling enviously as Goku, none the wiser to Sokka’s irritation, preps his Flying Nimbus for takeoff. Katara, on the other hand, clasps her gloves together in an equal conglomerate of wonder and building excitement.

“Okay, first time flyers, hold on tight! Appa, yip-yip!” Aang happily commanded with a brisk slap of the reins tied to Appa’s horns. Upon request, the Sky Bison roars to life and slaps his tongue-shaped tail against the ice crater’s flat surface, performing a giant leap into the air. However, instead of staying in place as originally planned, Appa performs an accidental belly flop and unceremoniously splashes down into the waters below. This takes a nearby Goku completely off-guard, the resulting implosion of waves almost throwing him off Nimbus in mid-flight. 

“Woahhh! That water’s cold!” Goku whimpered woozily while struggling to stand up on one leg. After regaining his temporarily lost balance, the monkey boy shutters uncomfortably and brings Nimbus closer up to Appa’s saddle. 

“Come on, Appa. Yip-yip!” Aang attempted to encourage his exhausted animal companion. Appa just slowly floated on top of the ocean waters much to Sokka’s not so concealed displeasure.

“Wow, that was truly amazing…” Sokka droll sarcastically with a roll of his eyes. Katara angrily glared in response to her older brother’s continually disrespectful behavior. 

“Appa’s just a little tired. A little rest and he’ll be soaring through the sky. You’ll see.” The Avatar specified with an open gesture of his hand toward the surrounding territory. Goku then made his presence known, positing Nimbus to the left of Katara’s current sitting position. 

“It’s true! Appa was even able to keep up with Nimbus in terms of speed!” Goku supported with a reciprocated pat at said cloud’s front edge. Aang appreciatively nodded in reply, thinking back to him and the martial artist’s full-scale tour of the Southern Air Temple. 

“Right…Cause clouds are soooo fast…” Sokka mocked disingenuously, looking up to the surrounding clouds moving at a snail’s pace. Aang and Goku just knowingly gazed at each other, wanting to see the look on Sokka’s face later on. Katara then adopted the same smile, a gesture which Aang did not cease as soon as the monkey boy did. 

“Why are you smiling at me like that?” Katara questioned apprehensively in concern. Aang, losing track of time, regained his composure and attempted to play dumb. 

“Oh, I was smiling?” Aang asked in slight embarrassment. Puzzled, Goku’s black pupils dart from Aang to Katara for a split second before he shrugs and goes back to steadying Nimbus’s pace. Sokka throws his back and groans at the little “moment” as Appa proceeds onward to the Southern Water Tribe. 

On the very top of his Fire Nation ship, Zuko distractedly stares off into the distance. He is now wearing a black sleeping gown with a strip of red extending from the neck down. Uncle Iroh approaches him from the back, concerned for his nephew’s health at the moment. 

“I’m going to bed now. Yep, a man needs his rest.” Iroh yawns and stretches out his arms, hoping for Zuko to take the obvious hint laced within his small talk. The Fire Nation prince continues to glare at the nearby pillars of ice, undeterred by the old firebender’s helpful suggestions. Seeing that this conversation was going nowhere, Iroh slumped his hunched shoulders and sighed heavily. 

“Prince Zuko, you need some sleep. Even if you’re right, and the Avatar, Goku, or both are alive, it will be impossible for you to find them. Your father, grandfather, and great-grandfather all tried and failed.” Iroh honestly admitted in a vain attempt to have the 16-year-old listen to some form of reason. Sadly, even the cold hard truth didn’t do all that much to deter the boy from his self-proclaimed “destiny”. 

“Because their honor didn’t hinge on the Avatar and Goku’s capture. Mine does. Those two cowards’ hundred years of hiding are over.” Zuko snapped back in defiance of Iroh’s requests. Until his honor was fully restored back to the way it was before, rest would indefinitely have to wait.

Several hours have passed since Appa first departed from the ice crater, the sky transitioning into a much darker shade of nightly blue. Sokka is now hunched over in a fetal position of slumber while Katara, wide awake, is perched in front of the Sky Bison’s saddle. Aang has his arms crossed behind his head, lying down on top of his brown gliding staff whilst studying the stars above. Still riding on top of the Flying Nimbus, Goku struggles to keep his circular eyes open and lightly yawns. 

“Hey.” Katara greeted Aang with the intention of having one of her biggest curiosities answered. The arms of her parka are crossed over one another just below the chin area, leaning on top of the saddle’s curved front. 

“Hey. What’cha thinkin’ about?” Aang lazily implored with his gray eyes half-lidded in slight drowsiness. 

“I guess I was wondering, you being an airbender and all, if you had any idea what happened to the Avatar?” Katara hopefully implored to the young air nomad. At the mention of his preconceived title, Aang’s eyes widen considerably and he freezes up trying to figure out a proper answer that wouldn’t seem suspicious. 

“Oh, no. I didn’t know him. I mean I knew people that knew him, but I didn’t. Sorry.” Aang stammered nervously, hiding his insecurity with an apologetic smile. Katara’s curious demeanor seems to deflate, disappointed by the monk’s uncertainty.

“Oh okay. Just curious. Good night!” Katara addressed both Goku and Aang with a noticeably weaker smile. Just as she curls up to get some much-needed shut eye, the monk turns around to conceal the overwhelming sense of guilt befalling him. Goku, taking note of this, quietly sneaks Nimbus closer to the uncomfortable young airbender.

“Aang, are you sure it’s a good idea to keep the whole you being the Avatar thing a secret?” whispered the alien martial artist concernedly for both his and the Southern Water Tribe siblings’ sakes. Exhaling a breath of air he didn’t realize he was holding in, Aang pinches the bridge of his nose and shakes his clean-shaven head from left to right. 

I’m not sure, Goku, but you have to understand that this could be my last chance to act like myself for a change. No concerns, no responsibilities, just being a normal, everyday kid. You get what I mean, right?” Aang admitted to his monkey-tailed friend with a twinge of underlying sadness. He spares a short glance at the sleeping form of Katara, his frown curving upward in conjunction with her presence. Goku sympathetically nods in comprehension, feeling the same way about his adventures with Bulma a few years before King Piccolo came into the picture. 

“I do, but remember that you can’t keep this a secret forever. If you don’t tell them, they’ll find out eventually.” Goku warned with a gesture towards the motionless bodies of Sokka and Katara. With this point made, the monkey boy slows Nimbus’s movement and uses the cloud as a full-sized pillow. Before long, Goku laid completely spread eagled and started to snore loudly. 

“I know…” Aang sighed deeply, bowing his head low in moral confliction. Deciding to worry about his secretive nature in the morning, the airbending monk lays down on his side and falls into an emotion-ridden sleep. This period of rest, however, would be plagued with nightmarish recollections of the very same storm that brought him and Goku to the frigid tomb they were imprisoned in. 

“Bwahahahaha!” Goku abruptly awoke to a sinister cacophony of laughter he was all too familiar with. Getting up on his feet in a combative battle stance, the student of Master Roshi was startled to see that he was back in his own dimension. Surprise that would soon be replaced by absolute horror in response to the carnage taking place. Before his very eyes, the recognizable appearance of the Tenkaichi Budokai arena was left in shambles, consumed by towering plumbs of raging fire. Pieces of stone shrapnel were thrown about the surrounding cityscape of Papaya Island and what used to be tall skyscrapers were now far-reaching piles of ash. 

“H-how long was I gone for?” a frightened Goku choked out. He hesitantly moved about the ashen desert, further appalled by an even greater extent of destruction he didn’t want to imagine: dead bodies. More specifically, the corpses of hundreds upon thousands of Papaya island residents. Each of them, whether it be animals, teens, adults, or children, were left imprinted with sizable holes in their chests, sizzling from excess heat of some kind. The most unsettling parts, however, were their eyes, all completely void of life and lacking pupils. 

“GOKU!” screamed a high-pitched, yet scratchy voice in pain. Turning towards the source of the distressed cry for help, Goku catches sight of his closest friend and fellow fighter: Krillin. Krillin’s is feebly crawling away from something, his martial arts gi strung up with dried up blotches of red blood. Not seeing the bald-headed monk ever since his neck was snapped by Tambourine, tears well up in the young Saiyan’s eyes and he attempts to rush towards Krillin’s aid before anything bad can happen. 

“Krillin! I’m coming, buddy! Don’t-“ A giant yellow blast of chi interrupts Goku’s promise, completely erasing the wounded young monk from existence upon impact. The petrified Goku’s black eyes shrink in distress, struck dumb by the immediate decimation of his best friend. He looks up to glare at the perpetrator of Krillin’s murder, knowing full well who it was. Said individual is the complete polar opposite of Kami in terms of appearance with his skin a brighter, smoother green. He has sharp, almost vampiric teeth clenched in a diabolical sneer of triumph and yellow blood-shot pupils narrowed with the utmost insanity. To top it all off, he wears a dark blue gi with the Japanese kanji for “demon” drawn in the center and has a purple sash wrapped around his sizable waist. 

“Piccolo! What have you done, you monster!” Goku growled scornfully in unsuppressed rage. Visibly relishing in the boy’s hatred, Demon King Piccolo howls mockingly at the young martial artist.

“Hahahahaha! Foolish child! Your very disappearance is what made this possible!” the demonic Namekian guffawed while gesturing to the fiery inferno taking place around him. Goku shivers fearfully, not expecting such a response. As he does so, much to his proceeding misery, Goku spots the fallen likenesses of some of his other friends. 

“G-goku…” Bulma whimpered helplessly while desperately clutching an impressionable wound in her stomach.   
“Goku…Why?” Yamcha pleadingly questioned, his body completely torn clean in half.  
“W-where were you?” Tien coughed out, a puddle of bloody saliva oozing out of his dislocated jaw.  
“Goku…”  
“Why weren’t you there for us?”  
“W-where did you go?”

Unable to tolerate the desperate pleas for help any longer, Goku collapsed onto his knees and slammed a fist onto the ground in anguish. Tears poured down his eyes, crying more than he did during the reunion with Grandpa Gohan. To King Piccolo, the sadness of his most reviled enemy was borderline delicious. 

“You know, I should thank you, but I think it would be better to just get your death out of the way and kill you. Then you can properly reunite with your friends…in hell!” Piccolo hollered despicably as he levitated higher into the sky. Floating considerably up above the remnants of Papaya Island, King Piccolo releases his aura, causing hazardous sparks of static electricity to surround his entire body. He then outstretches one of his arms with the other clutching it in support, resulting in a massive sphere of yellow chi to permeate outward from his open palm. 

“Goodbye, boy!” King Piccolo maniacally laughed, releasing the dreaded Explosive Demon Wave in a massive flare of yellow and white light. Piccolo’s energy blast engulfed the entire cityscape of Papaya Island, blanketing Goku and his slowly dying friends in a fast pursuing blanket of shadow. 

“Noooooooooo!” shouted a grief-stricken Goku in denial of this terrible future. Before he was able to do anything in retaliation, King Piccolo’s most devastating attack hit its primary target and annihilated Goku & the gang in a giant mushroom cloud, completely wiping what was left of Papaya Island off the map as well!

“NO!” Goku yelped desperately, unexpectantly waking up in a brown sleeping bag. The distressed monkey boy was sweating bullets and unconsciously hyperventilating, struggling to breathe properly after experiencing such a realistic dream. 

“Nightmare?” Goku tosses the covers off of himself and darts his head to the left. Aang, completely stripped of his nomadic outfit, is situated in his own sleeping bag right next to Goku’s. He tries to wipe some of the sleep out of his eyes, unveiling the arrow tattoos etched along his bare arms. 

“Y-yeah…did y-you have one too?” Goku faltered with a clasp of his aching head. Aang nodded hesitantly and relieved his body of some of the covers. 

“Yep. It was about the storm we were stuck in a while back. What happened in yours?” the airbending monk politely inquired. Aang’s close resemblance to Krillin caused Goku to break eye contact, flinching from the recollection of what could possibly happen to his home if left unprotected for too long. 

“Something far scarier…” Goku simply uttered with a hard clench of his fist. Aang was about to prod for a bit more elaboration on the martial artist’s part, but decided against it once Katara made her presence known and entered the tent both kids were sleeping in. 

“Oh, good! You guys are awake. Everyone in the village is waiting to meet you, so get ready!” Katara enthusiastically informed Aang and Goku with a gesture of her thumb towards the teepee’s open exit. Goku, wanting to clear his mind of King Piccolo’s upcoming rebirth, stood up and grabbed the maroon staff reminiscent of his Power Pole. Aang similarly prepared himself by putting his orange and yellow clothes back on. As he did so, Katara was impressed by the blue arrows painted around his arms and back. Not wanting to keep her people waiting, Katara roughly dragged Aang and Goku by their wrists.

The portion of the Southern Water Tribe Katara and Sokka lived in was, surprisingly, much smaller than implied. It was mainly an igloo and eight yellowish tents surrounded by a somewhat circular border infused with hardened snow. The aforementioned waterbending girl dragged Goku and Aang out of the largest of the tents being “guarded” by Sokka, who was distractedly sharpening his boomerang instead. Every villager was huddled in a large group near the tribe’s central fireplace, most likely used for cooking, eating, or gathering purposes. 

“Aang, Goku, this is my entire village. Entire village, meet Aang and Goku.” Katara introduced the inhabitants of the South Pole to her new friends. Thinking back to what he learned from Monk Gyatso, the airbending Avatar bowed to the warmly-dressed Inuits as a sign of respect and friendliness. Goku did the same, but it wasn’t enough to prevent the villagers from taking a step back in fear. Some were even more frightened by his tail, clutching their children protectively. 

“Uh, why are they looking at me like that? Did Appa sneeze on me?” Aang peered over to Katara worriedly with a thorough inspection of his clothes for good measure. Goku spun around to perform his own small check-up, giving the surrounding populous a better look at his furry appendage as it twitched about uncomfortably. An elderly woman in a large purple coat then decides to speak for the rest of the crowd. She has gray hair with looped extensions that mirror Katara’s. 

“Well, no one has seen an airbender in a hundred years. We thought they were extinct, until my granddaughter and grandson found you.” Kanna sternly advised in justification of her tribe’s cautious attitude towards the monk.

“Extinct?” Aang repeated in shock, unsure if he actually heard what Katara’s grandmother just so casually revealed. Kanna then sized up Goku’s appearance, vaguely recognizing the spiky hair and monkey-like attributes from a story she heard long ago. 

“And this one is another story entirely. He fits the description and namesake of a legend originating from the Fire Nation about a monkey-tailed boy who could shoot blue light out of his fingertips with the utterance of a single phrase.” recalled Kanna as she attempted to look back to her younger years for confirmation. Goku fidgeted in place, shocked that the Kamehameha, a technique from his world, was suddenly common knowledge in an entirely different somehow. Aang shared the same level of bafflement as his friend. 

“I-I’m known by the Fire Nation?! How is that possible?! I’ve never even been there!” Goku yelled in startled disbelief, looking for answers that simply weren’t able to be given just yet. Sensing the boys’ distress, Katara attempted to loosen some of the lingering tension so to speak. 

“Guys, this is my grandmother, Kanna.” Katara tentatively introduced in an open-palmed gesture. Goku took a deep breath of resignation to calm his worries and lightly waved with an incredibly, not at all noticeably, forced smile. 

“Call me Gran-Gran.” kindly suggested Kanna, even though the blank look on her wrinkled face implied otherwise. Sokka then marches up to the two foreigners and snatches Aang’s staff away from his hands. 

“What are these, weapons? You can’t stab anything with these!” Sokka annoyingly critiques while twirling around the airbender’s and gesturing to Goku’s slightly longer one. 

“I don’t know. Have you ever been hit by one? They can really do some damage!” Goku sniggered while imitating the motion of smashing it against the ground. Sokka just gave him a dirty look of uncertainty, not believing for a second that a dumb pole could do better than a spear in combat. Aang then created a vacuum of air that brought his own staff back to his hands.

“Plus, it’s not for stabbing. It’s for airbending.” Aang matter-of-factly corrected the Water Tribe teen. Orange wings then sprung out of the brown glider, almost hitting an unprepared Sokka in the process. 

“Magic trick! Do it again!” cheered a small girl with brown hair tied up in two buns as other children her age giggled excitedly. 

“Not magic, airbending. It lets me control the air currents around my glider and fly.” Aang elaborated while presenting a visual demonstration of his glider’s movement in the air. Sokka vocally scoffs and crosses his arms unconvinced. 

“Ya know, last time I checked, humans can’t fly!” Sokka mockingly lambasted to the airbending monk’s bold claim. Aang just smirks defiantly, ready to prove Sokka’s doubts completely wrong. 

“Hey, Goku! Want to go for Round 2?” Aang somewhat challenged the thrill-seeking martial artist in remembrance of their first flight with Appa. Not having any sort of fun since being unfrozen, Goku beams appreciatively and seconds the motion.

“NIMBUS!” Goku cried out in search of his loyal mount. Upon the mention of its name, the mystical cloud darts down from the heavens and carefully stops right next to Goku in waiting for another command. The people of the Southern Water Tribe are amazed by this odd phenomenon, especially the same kids previously stunned by Aang’s glider.

“Could have given me a warning this time…” Sokka mumbled irritably whilst massaging his aching ear drums, once again too close for comfort in relation to Goku’s loud screaming. 

“Ready when you are, Aang!” Goku confirmed to the monk that he was ready for airborne travel.

“Alright, Sokka. To your last statement, check again!” Aang grabs onto to the topmost sides of his glider and jumps upward, blowing back Sokka and Katara with a gust of wind. As previously stated, Aang uses airbending to perform various loop-de-loops and spins in mid-air. He is immediately caught up by Goku, who is performing similar tricks with the aid of Flying Nimbus’s adept speed. 

“He’s flying!” One of the village’s younger girls gasps in awe. Aang and Goku, side-by-side, accelerate further to zip past the gathering of villagers. 

“He’s riding on a cloud! It’s amazing!” Another girl squeals in delight at the once thought improbable trick Goku was pulling off. Seeing the wide smile on Katara’s face, Aang is suddenly filled with the urge to show off more and begins gliding sideways. However, this attempt at impressing the villagers, Katara more specifically, backfires when he accidentally slams headfirst into a watchtower made of snow. Goku, able to see where he was going, stops Nimbus from moving forward and helps pull Aang out of the elevated structure. Struggling to do so, Aang’s head is pulled out too fast and both boys are sent tumbling down to the ground in a pile of icy excrement. Nimbus just idly floats in place, unaffected. 

“My watchtower!” Sokka gaped in shock and disappointment at the “damage” Aang caused. Katara then ran up to the clump of snow Aang and Goku were currently concealed in, smiling at them amusedly. 

“That was amazing!” Katara congratulated the two of them on their perfectly synchronized flying skills. She offers both kids a hand and brings them back onto their feet, giving Aang the chance to spin his glider in a rapid circle that deploys its wings. In the background, Sokka desperately tries to salvage the remains of his cherished defense mechanism. This series of patting, unfortunately, results in him being knocked down by a large clump of snowfall. 

“Great. You’re an airbender, Goku’s a “martial artist”, and Katara’s a waterbender. Together, all three of you can just waste time all day long.” Sokka whines angrily as he stomps off to move onto something else more “important”. 

“You’re a waterbender?” Aang asked in admirable surprise. 

“Well, sort of. Not yet.” Katara nervously responded with little confidence in her current abilities. 

“All right, no more playing. Come on, Katara, you have chores.” Kanna scolded her granddaughter as she led them away from Aang, Goku, and the rest of the villagers. Once they were out of ear-shot, Katara could no longer hide her concealed aspirations and hopes for Aang.

“I told you, he’s the real thing, Gran-Gran! I finally found a bender to teach me!” a delighted Katara whispered out excitedly. 

“Katara, try not to put all your hopes in this boy. Him and Goku don’t seem to realize the underlying danger their presences may bring.” Kanna calmly forewarned the young waterbender in abject concern. 

“But, he’s special! Both of them are even! I can tell!” Katara argued in favor of the two boys’ possible usefulness in her training. 

“I sense they’re filled with much wisdom.” Katara clenches her gloved fists in determination, glancing back to Aang and Goku’s whereabouts with a broad smile. Goku is on top of Nimbus with several kids crawling all over it. He struggles to stay aboard, uncertain if the cloud has a max weight capacity or not. Aang, on the other hand, is doing something far less difficult.

“See? Now my tongue is stuck to my staff!” Aang mumbled incoherently. One of the five children yanks at the staff, jerking the airbender forward with his tongue still frozen to the glider’s flat surface. The Southern Water Tribe kids laugh hysterically and applaud the effects of his small experiment. 

Zuko is placed in front of two heavily armored Fire Nation soldiers, ready to practice his daily combat regiment. Iroh is seated in a metal stool, analyzing the spar with a highly experienced critical eye. 

“Again.” sternly ordered the master firebender. Upon his uncle’s request, Zuko shot out two bursts of orange flame at each soldier, a predictable attack they were able to dodge easily enough. Zuko then recovers from this failed attempt by ducking to avoid one of his opponent’s fire blasts, flipping backward to just barely evade another stream aimed directly at his feet from the second. After landing, the former heir to the Fire Nation throne then outstretches both of his arms, waiting to counter the next coming strike. Displeased with the performance, Iroh sighs irritably and stands up.

“No! Power in firebending comes from the breath, not the muscles.” Iroh emphasized while placing both hands over the lungs concealed in his chest and then spreading out his left arm.

“The breath becomes energy in the body. The energy extends past your limbs and becomes: fire!” Iroh emphasized knowingly as he produced a fire plume much larger and more powerful than the ones Zuko haphazardly bended. 

“Get it right this time.” Iroh snapped, resting both arms behind his back. Zuko growled, his tolerance for waiting steadily wearing thin once more. 

“Enough! I’ve been drilling this sequence all day. Teach me the next set! I’m more than ready!” Zuko argued while marching closer to look his uncle straight in the face. 

“No, you are impatient. You have yet to master your basics. Drill it again!” Iroh bellowed defiantly, situating himself back onto his seat. Annoyed by the old man’s refusal to enhance his bending abilities, Zuko grinds his teeth lividly and kicks at one of the unsuspecting soldiers. This results in a massive streak of fire that sends him flying straight to the ground, not having enough strength to block it in time. 

“The sages tell us the Avatar is the last airbender. He must be over a hundred years old right now. He’s had a century to master the four elements and who knows what else with that monkey-tailed chi manipulator still around! If he somehow managed to find him, I’ll need far more than basic firebending to defeat both of them. You will teach me the advanced set!” Zuko angrily commanded the retired Fire Nation general. Iroh glares at his extremely rude nephew for a moment or two, but eventually gives in.

“Very well,” Iroh grumbles reluctantly with an agitated lower of his head. “but first, I must finish my roast duck.” Iroh’s disappointed scowl is quickly replaced by a beam of delight as he pulls out a bowl of fried wings and starts devouring them with chopsticks in hand. Zuko simply frowns in appalled disgust. 

After managing to pry off a merry band of Water Tribe youngsters from Nimbus, Goku decided to give the cloud a break to do some sight-seeing of his own. After a few minutes of walking around, the one-track-minded martial artist noticed Sokka marching back and forth in front of what seemed to be a group of six little boys. Having nothing better to do at the moment, he shrugged and made his way over there. 

“Now men, it’s important that you show no fear when you face a firebender. In the Water Tribe, we fight to the last man standing! For without courage, how we can ourselves men?” Sokka proudly lectured with a determined raise of his clenched fist. All of the kids have clearly no idea what the older boy is going on about, but their interests are suddenly raised at the sight of an approaching Goku. 

“Hey Sokka! What’cha guys doing?” Goku asked politely, tapping Sokka’s shoulder to get his attention. Not expecting the monkey boy’s appearance, Sokka screams girlishly and cowers in fear. This sudden change in motion causes the balled point of his club to slam into his foot as well, ensuing a widespread fit of laughter in the boys he was trying to “motivate”. After massaging and blowing on the portion of his leg where it stung, Sokka’s tan skin turned beat red in temperate embarrassment.

“First, you blow out my ear drums twice and now, you almost give me a heart attack. Is there something else you want to wreck for good measure, Goku?!” Sokka fumed crabbily with a gesture at the entire Southern Water Tribe camp. Said monkey boy scratches his head, laughing nervously.

“Yeah, sorry about that. I just heard you mention fighting and thought that maybe I could give you a few pointers.” Goku apologized with a learning opportunity in return for his past errors. The other Water Tribe kids started to get a teensy bit more excited, wanting to know if the monkey boy was actually a combat expert or not.

“Pointers? How so?” Sokka deadpanned, still uncertain that Goku could make him or the last remaining “men” of the tribe better prepared for potential Fire Nation invaders. The Saiyan child then unsheathed his staff and began spinning it around in high-speed circles, dazzling the impressionable little Inuits.

“Well, handling a spear should sort of be like my staff here. Each hand movement should be perfectly matched in order to improve the speed of each progressive hit.” Goku informed a now fully invested Sokka. He then further demonstrated his skills by doing different poses with the staff, both defensive and offensive in nature. After a while, the interdimensional traveler topped it all off with a forward jab, mirroring the sharp pierce of an arrowhead. 

“I can also show you some of my hand-to-hand combat stances if you want me to.” Goku offered considerately while placing his staff back into its holster. Sokka, more pleased with the results than he let on, clasped Goku’s shoulder and smirked appreciatively.

“You know what, Goku, that actually could come in handy. See, men, this is how a true warrior should ac-“ Sokka was gobsmacked to see that none of the kids were there anymore. Sensing their extremely low energy signatures, Goku sheepishly tapped the baffled Water Tribe adolescent on the shoulder a second time and pointed to the newly present form of Appa. All six of the boys were taking turns sliding on the Sky Bison’s tail, giddily landing in soft piles of snow. Sokka, to put it lightly, was not as pleased. 

“Guys, have you seen Aang? Gran-Gran said he disappeared…oh! Hahahaha!” Katara’s worries were inexplicably quelled at the sight of Aang helping the boys launch off of Appa’s upper backside. While she proceeds to laugh amusedly, Sokka does the opposite and throws his arms up in the air furiously. 

“Stop! Stop it right now! What’s wrong with you?! We don’t have time for fun and games with the War going on!” Sokka lambasted the airbending monk on his blissful ignorance to the extremely prominent elephant in the room. Aang concernedly glances over to Goku at the mention of this “war”. 

“What war? What are you talking about?” Aang probed cluelessly as he jumped down from Appa’s head. Goku was also taken a bit by surprise, trying to think back to what Roku informed him about the day he got to this world. 

“You’re kidding, right?” Sokka questioned with a raised eyebrow, in disbelief at how informed someone could be. Aang shakes his head a bit, but is immediately drenched with pure joy at the sight of a particular animal native to the South Pole. It is a four-armed penguin with a whiskery otter-like face.

“PENGUIN!” Aang shouts delightedly, running forward at almost mach speed with the usage of airbending. Goku is also happy to see the polar creature, but for a completely different reason entirely.

“FOOD!” A hunger-struck Goku exclaimed, phasing out of existence in mere milliseconds. The two siblings’ marvel at their speed for a moment, but quickly go back to discussing the global conflict Aang and Goku are yet to be aware of. 

“They’re both kidding, right?” Sokka asked a bit more stupefied. Katara just glanced at her brother, not quite as sure about their child-like obliviousness as she would have liked.


	8. Accidents Happen

Quite a bit of distance away from the Southern Water Tribe, hundreds of otter-penguins waddle about without a care in the world. Some dive into the water in a makeshift single file line while others casually stand around and squawk to their heart’s content as per usual. Among them, a concerned Katara shuffles through on the search to figure where Goku and Aang abruptly ran off to. 

“Aang? Goku?” The waterbender called out to the prevailing otter-penguin habitat. She scans the surrounding area to find Aang attempting to pounce on a few of the Antarctic creatures with seemingly little success. 

“Hey, come on little guy. Wanna go sledding?” Aang giggled happily as the unamused penguins ran away from him at breakneck speeds. Getting closer to meeting the intended results of his plan, Aang leaps onto a fleeing bird with open arms, only to face plant straight into the snow. Katara then picks up the pace and trots to stand beside the airbending monk.

“Heh heh. I have a way with animals.” Aang remarked with a small hint of sarcasm. He starts to badly imitate a penguin’s chirps, outstretching his arms whilst lightly hopping from place to place on the tips of his heels. 

“Gop! Gop! Gop! Gop!” The monk playfully shouts, closing his eyes to mirror the otter-penguins’ squinted black pupils. Katara breaks into boisterous giggles witnessing this humorous impression, but laughs even harder at the sight of Goku’s current predicament. 

“Hehehehe I think Goku has it too, Aang.” Katara exclaimed while pointing a gloved hand at the snowy pavilion’s centermost location. Aang turns around to take notice of Goku being helplessly surrounded by a large army of otter-penguins, each trying to nab something tightly secured in the martial artist’s calloused paws. 

“Hey, this is my lunch! You should be grateful that I’m not eating you guys right now!” Goku whined defensively, rushing to stuff a handful of fish in his mouth before the greedy flightless bird-mammals could get to them first. Never seeing Goku so agitated before, Aang joined Katara and guffawed delightedly as well.

“Haha hey Goku! Come over here!” Aang requested in a loud yell of welcome. Hearing the voice of his newest friend, Goku devoured the last fish in his collection and flipped over the hoard of hungry otter-penguins, much to their squawk-filled chagrin. He ran to Aang and Katara, sliding on top of the snow in order to stop himself from moving too far ahead. 

“So, I see you figured out the secret to catching penguins, huh Goku?” Katara playfully inquired with a raise of her eyebrow. Aang gasped in anticipation while the Saiyan boy just confusedly tilted his head. 

“Catching them? Nah, I was just hungry and they all swarmed around me.” Goku bluntly revealed with a jerk of his thumb at the water where he caught his most recent meal. 

“But that is the first step, right? Please tell me the rest, Katara!” Aang chimed in desperation to experience the thrill of penguin sledding. Katara, seeing this as a good opportunity to enhance her own abilities, assertively wagged her finger at the enthusiastic airbender. 

“Not just yet, Aang. I’ll help you sled on a penguin if you agree to teach me waterbending.” Katara determinedly persuaded the Avatar. This proposed deal confused Aang and Goku greatly, causing them to nervously look at each other. 

“I don’t think Aang is what you’re looking for, Katara. All I’ve seen him do is bend air.” Goku hesitantly stated with a scratch of his unkempt hairdo, looking up at the sky as wind blew onward. 

“What? But I thought…” Katara almost whispered, a look of dreaded disappointment suddenly clouding over her. 

“He’s right, Katara. I’m not a waterbender. Isn’t there someone in your tribe who could teach you?” Aang helpfully suggested as he floated back onto his feet after being dragged by the tail of another otter-penguin. Sighing, Katara clasped her hands together in displeasure. 

“No. You’re looking at the only waterbender in the whole South Pole.” Katara sorrowfully divulged without exactly elaborating on what happened to the other benders of her kind.

“This isn’t right. A waterbender needs to master water.” Aang thought aloud, trying to figure out a solution to the girl’s conundrum. He looked down to his feet for a second before an idea suddenly came to fruition. 

“What about the North Pole? There’s another Water Tribe up there, right? Maybe they have waterbenders who could teach you.” Aang said more optimistically, gesturing to the planet’s northern portion. 

“Maybe, but we haven’t had contact with our sister tribe in a long time. It’s not exactly “turn right at the second glacier”. It’s on the other side of the world.” An uncertain Katara told Aang and Goku about the sheer longevity this trip could possess. 

“But you forget, I have a flying bison. Appa, Goku, and I can personally fly you to the North Pole. Katara, we’re going to find you a master!” Aang solemnly promised with an overjoyed widen of his gray eyes. 

“That’s…I mean, I don’t know. I’ve never left home before.” Katara faltered nervously, not sure if she was comfortable with departing from her tribe and family just yet. 

“Come on, Katara! It’ll be fun! I’ve been on loads of adventures around the world when I was Aang’s age and I would have never become as strong as I am now without them.” Goku positively supported with a small point at himself. The Saiyan’s large grin seemed to slightly warm Katara up to the proposition, but not by 100%. 

“Really? You’ve discovered how to practice martial arts just by traveling?” Katara regarded in shock and awe. Goku nodded his head up and down in response. 

“Yep. I met all three of my masters that way!” Goku beamed in remembrance of Master Roshi, Korin, and his most current instructor, Kami. At the mention of so many instructors, Katara became a lot more interested in exploring the world and learning about the type of person Goku could be. She had a feeling that his feats were not solely the result of practicing martial arts as implied earlier. 

“You’ll definitely have to tell us more about your past, Goku! But, first, can you teach the two of us how to slide on penguins, Katara?” Aang politely reminded the hair-looped Water Tribe girl. Deciding to ease her conflicted mindscape until later on, Katara smiles and takes out some extra fish from within her sleeve. 

“Hi hi hi! Ha ha ha!” Aang gleefully laughed as he, Katara, and Goku flung off of an iceberg leading to a gradually descending hill. The otter-penguins each of them are riding lay their stomachs flat on the snow, able to pick up speed as a result of their concealed orange legs. Aang progresses even faster by utilizing a smaller protrusion of ice as a ramp, soaring higher into the air with the same look of excitement befalling him. 

“I haven’t done this since I was a kid!” Katara declared with an open-mouth smile of amusement.

“You still are a kid!” Aang corrected, pleased by the fact that Katara was having so much fun. 

“I’ve never done this period!” Goku shared his own enthused thoughts, grinning from ear to ear all the way through. Deciding to up the “fun” factor, Goku gives the penguin he is sliding on a small bit of chi by laying his open palm on the bird-like animal’s forehead. Glowing with an invisible aura of yellow, the penguin squawks in surprise and rockets towards an upcoming series of caverns, sending two huge strips of snow flying in separate directions. 

“We better catch up!” Aang pronounced to a passing Katara on his left. Nodding at one another, the two follow after Goku into a cylindrical cave formation. The enclosed tunnel is illuminated by leaking beams of sunlight, making it look a darker blue as Aang, Katara, and Goku slide nearer to the exit. While the martial artist seems to be already out of sight, Aang takes the lead from Katara by utilizing the power of airbending to spin himself upside down onto the cave’s ceiling. Slowing down to a complete stop, Aang and Katara let their respective penguins walk away, spotting a silent Goku weirdly frozen in place. 

“Goku, what are you…you…Woah! W-what is that? Aang stammered in startled amazement. Standing before them, a giant metal ship is enshrouded by multiple spikes of hardened ice, tilting the vessel’s pointed front upward. On a pole attached to its central watchtower, a red flag carrying the Fire Nation insignia flaps about in the wind, shredded to pieces as a result of a long-past confrontation.

“A Fire Navy ship. And a very bad memory for my people.” Katara darkly summarized in bitter hatred towards the Fire Nation’s former and current brutality. Goku adjusted the position of his head, harshly glaring at the still prominent black fire symbol. His tail fluffing in steadily building anger, Goku approached the wreckage, wanting to find out more information about his newest enemy. Aang quickly repeated the same action. 

“Guys, stop! We’re not allowed to go near it! The ship could be booby-trapped!” Katara concernedly alerted the duo, not feeling safe in such an old, yet dangerous warship. 

“If you want to be a bender, you have to let go of fear.” Aang sternly informed the petrified waterbender. Goku just stood behind, waiting impatiently for Katara to make a decision. Taking note of the knowledgeable wisdom in Aang’s response, an on-edge Katara clenches her teeth apprehensively and climbs onto the fragments of ice holding the Fire Nation boat in place. The three reach a quite sizable hole in the ship’s hull, crumbled indents of gray steel rusted due to years of misuse. After walking through the empty halls of the once inhabited ship, Aang’s attention is drawn to one extensively sinister room filled with various weapons designed to kill or gravely wound potential opposers of the Fire Lord’s cause. This prospect did not sit well with both Aang and Goku. 

“This ship has haunted my tribe since Gran-Gran was a little girl. It was part of the Fire Nation’s first attacks.” Katara gravely elaborated about this particular Fire Navy vessel’s history and purpose. Goku examined the spears and clubs collecting dust along the wall, a dark, prominent thought rearing its ugly head at the mention of Katara’s grandmother. 

“Wait, if you’re the only waterbender in this tribe, then that means…the others were…” A horrified Goku struggled to choke out, shivering in place. Katara closed her eyes and did her best attempt at a nod, unseen tears beginning to build up.

“Yes. The Fire Nation took them.” Katara sorrowfully admitted. BANG! Goku slammed his fist against the wall, infuriated by how similar these firebenders were to the Red Ribbon Army two years prior. His eyes narrowed to slits as he clenched his teeth together considerably, energy expounding, ironically, like a raging flame. 

“Those…those monsters! They make me so mad!” growled the disgusted martial artist. Aang, unable to comprehend what Katara had just unveiled, shook his head doubtfully due to what he experienced firsthand in his era of birth. 

“Okay, back up. I have friends all over the world, even in the Fire Nation. I’ve never seen any war.” Aang recalled defensively, not wanting to believe that the peace between all 4 nations that he knew of was ended during his and Goku’s absences. Goku was stunned by this revelation, already knowing that the Fire Nation was up to no good due to Roku’s warnings. How could he, a kid from another dimension, know more than the Avatar himself?

“Aang, how long do you think we were in that iceberg for?” Goku asked, starting to lose his cool and transition into full-on panic mode in a moment’s notice. 

“I don’t know. A few days, maybe?” Aang unsurely inferred from what his hazy memory remembered. 

“I think it was more like a hundred years!” Katara gasped in full belief of that possibility. Goku did not take the news all that well.

“100 years?! Is that why the Fire Nation knows who I am?!” Goku screamed pathetically in unrestrained despair. He started walking around in circles, clutching his head trying to figure out all of the reasons for why this outcome was really, really bad. However, this just ended up giving him a massive headache.

“Goku, calm down! Just think for a second. Do I or you look one hundred years older? Or Appa for that matter?” Aang attempted to object Katara’s claim and calm the hyperventilating monkey boy down. 

“Think about it, Aang. The War is a century old. You don’t know about it because, somehow, you were in there the whole time. It’s the only explanation.” Katara softly explained the direct cause of Aang’s cluelessness. His eyes expounded into saucers, growing just as panicked as Goku is currently. He then slumps down onto the floor, curling up into a ball of confusion and sadness. 

“A hundred years! I can’t believe it.” Aang sighed sadly. Acting as a source of comfort, Katara kneels down to the monk’s side and places a gloved hand on his shoulder. 

“I’m sorry, Aang. Maybe somehow there’s a bright side to this…” Katara hopefully suggested in earnest. Goku, seeing Aang in an equal level of distress, ceases the progression of his panic attack and walks up to the Avatar’s side as well. 

“I did get to meet you. And I still have Goku as well.” Aang addressed the positives of this overall nightmarish situation. Goku and Katara smile warmly at this statement, both helping the kindly monk to his feet. 

“Come on, let’s get out of here.” Katara advised. The trio then left the weapons room behind and attempted to navigate back to the area they came from. However, Aang wandered into an unknown location with pipes snaking along the walls and ceiling. 

“Guys, let’s head back, this place is creepy.” A nervous Katara attempted to convince the Avatar to stop his exploring. Not far behind, Goku felt something amiss about the entire room that left him hesitant to progress further. Utilizing his heightened senses, Goku was shocked to discover a thin line of rope residing in the area’s center: a portion of the room Aang was about to walk into!

“Aang! Watch out!” Goku shouted warningly. The Avatar, however, was unable to hear Goku in time and tripped over the concealed wire, causing metal bars to trap them inside. The three, unsettled by this occurrence, run towards the newly created cage and peek through.

“What’s that you said about booby traps?” Aang nervously muttered to Katara. Suddenly, the gears and meters of the once dead Fire Navy ship whir to life, fuel-enlaced smoke billowing out of its various pipes. To the trio’s shock, the meters shoot up to their max settings and a signal flare is propelled into the sky. There, it explodes in a ball of fire before descending toward the earth once more. 

“Uh oh…” Aang gulped as he looked up from a nearby window. Noticing a hole of melted steel where the rocket was launched, Aang picks up Katara bridal style and prepares to jump out. 

“Hold on tight!” The Avatar exclaimed while holding Katara close to his chest. Waiting for Aang and Katara to safely hop from platform to platform, Goku bounces into the hole and performs a series of forward somersaults to land where the two were currently positioned. 

Noticing the flare Aang inadvertently triggered, Zuko ran to the top of his ship and began to scan the premises using a black telescope. Through the lens, the Fire Nation Prince spotted Aang hopping out of the elevated vessel with Katara in his arms. 

“The last airbender!” Zuko whispered in pleasure of his fortunate luck. The telescope then brought his gaze to the likeness of Goku, spotting him crash down into the earth like a spinning meteorite, minus the explosion. 

“And the chi-user…quite agile for their old ages.” Zuko expressed with a narrowed squint of his two golden eyes, noticing the three walking back to the Southern Water Tribe.

“Wake my uncle! Tell him I found Goku and the Avatar.” Zuko commanded angrily to an observing Fire Navy soldier. The soldier briskly nods in understanding and runs to Iroh’s quarters. Zuko then peers into the telescope once more to see Aang, Katara, and Goku hurrying back to a village positioned on top of the ice. 

“As well as their hiding place…” Zuko added on in further gratitude of the Avatar’s mishap. The heir to the Fire Nation throne then glares at the tribal civilization, ready for his moment to strike. 

The flare kickstarted by Aang continues to float in mid-air, not yet close to reaching the ground. Its curved tail of smoke is spotted by the petrified villagers of the Southern Water Tribe, each of them gathered in a large group like when Goku and Aang were first introduced. In the horizon, the trio reveal themselves and casually walk up to the village’s entrance. 

“Yay! Goku and Aang are back!” cheered the overjoyed children of the tribe, running up to greet the two visitors from different cultures. Gran-Gran, Sokka, and the adults of the tribe are not as pleased by their presences. 

“I knew it! You signaled the Fire Navy with that flare! You’re leading them straight to us, aren’t you?” Sokka furiously accused Aang and Goku of being spies for the Fire Nation as he did before. 

“I already told you that I’ve never even been in the Fire Nation. Why would I lie about that?!” Goku grunted irritably at Sokka’s baseless claims. 

“Plus, Aang didn’t do anything! It was an accident!” Katara proceeded to defend Aang and Goku’s intentions, glaring daggers at her stubborn older brother. 

“Yeah. We were on the ship and there was this booby trap, and, well…we booby-ed right into it.” Aang sheepishly recalled with a light rub of his bald head. 

“Katara, you shouldn’t have gone on that ship! Now we could all be in danger!” Kanna scolded her inconsiderate granddaughter in worry of what may happen to the village as a result of the Fire Nation’s unquenchable wrath. 

“Don’t blame Katara or Goku for that matter. I brought them there. It’s all my fault.” Aang regretfully unveiled with a downcast glance at the ground. 

“Aha! The traitor confesses! Warriors, away from the enemy. The foreigners are banished from our village.” Sokka ordered assertively, causing the kids to morosely depart from Goku and Aang’s sides.

“Sokka, you’re making a mistake.” Katara protested in Aang and Goku’s favor, clenching her fists irately. 

“No, I’m keeping my promise to Dad. I’m protecting you, from threats like them!” Sokka boldly persisted with his flawed argument, pointing at Goku and Aang as if they were savage animals ready to attack. 

“Aang and Goku are not our enemies! Don’t you see? The two of them have brought something we haven’t had in a long time: fun.” Katara pointed out in appraisal. Throughout the dire straits of the 100-Year-War, it was true that the childish, fun-loving personalities of the duo brought back an innocence once lost by the children of the Water Tribe, including said waterbender herself. Without them, hope would seem all the more further away to grasp than it is now. 

“Fun?! We can’t fight firebenders with fun!” Sokka snapped in utter bafflement at such a ludicrous point. 

“You should try it sometime.” Aang optimistically suggested to the annoyed 15-year-old Water Tribe warrior. 

“I mean what’s the point in fighting someone if you can’t have fun with it?” Goku questioned with a battle-ready clench of his fist and a cocky smile.  
“Get out of our village! Now!” Sokka commanded in fuming anger. 

“Grandmother, please. Don’t let Sokka do this.” Katara pleaded for her oldest relative to listen to reason. 

“Katara, you knew going on that ship was forbidden. Sokka is right. I think it best if Goku and the airbender leave.” Kanna gravely declared in full agreement of Sokka’s proposal. Outraged by her village’s choice to turn its back on the two, Katara’s eyes narrowed in aggravation. 

“Fine! Then I’m banished too! Come on Aang and Goku, let’s go.” Katara spitefully proclaimed while dragging each boy away by the arms. 

“Where do you think you’re going?” Sokka demanded, completely floored by Katara’s sudden self-centered attitude. 

“To find a waterbender. Aang and Goku are taking me to the North Pole.” Katara promulgated in a fit of anger. 

“We are? Great!” Aang and Goku happily chirped in slightly confused unison. 

“Katara! Would you really choose them over your tribe? Your own family?” Sokka interrogated his sister with a slight hint of hurt and disbelief thrown in. Katara stopped dragging along Aang and Goku to rethink the moral implications of her decision thus far. Looking down in sorrow, the airbender and martial artist look at each other, seemingly thinking the same thing.

“Katara, I don’t want to come between you and your family.” Aang melancholically comforted the waterbending girl, understanding the amount of responsibility Katara cannot just blindly leave behind without a second thought. 

“Me and Aang will be fine. Don’t worry about us.” Goku soothed the distressed waterbender with full confidence in him and the Avatar’s individual skillsets. 

“So, you’re both leaving the South Pole? This is goodbye?” Katara whispered mournfully, upset by how her time spent with Aang and Goku had to end so terribly. 

“Thanks for penguin sledding with us.” Aang expressed his gratitude in a bitter-sweet tone.

“Where will you go?” Katara wondered out loud in curiosity. 

“I guess me and Goku will go back home to search for the other airbenders.” Aang inferred uncertainly while resting his hand on Appa’s furry hide. 

“Wow, I haven’t cleaned my room in a hundred years. Not looking forward to that.” Aang lightly joked with a weak smile and some essence of seriousness. He then plopped on top of his Sky Bison’s head and grabbed onto the reigns. 

“Nimbus!” Goku cried out with less enthusiasm. Nimbus then shot out from the clouds above and silently waited for the martial artist to maneuver it. Sokka, silently, felt gratified that he didn’t need to convulse in ear ache this time around. 

“It was nice meeting everyone.” Aang bode farewell to the rest of the tribe’s inhabitants. 

“Thanks for everything!” Goku also chimed in with a half-hearted wave of his hand.

“Let’s see your bison fly now, air boy.” Sokka sarcastically challenged the departing monk, his arms crossed in lingering doubt. 

“Come on, Appa, you can do it. Yip-yip!” Aang kindly encouraged his animal companion, ignoring the hostility in Sokka’s voice. Appa grunts lowly and merely stands up on his six feet, still not energized enough to fly at the moment. 

“Yeah, I thought so!” Sokka obnoxiously mocked Aang’s second failed attempt at showcasing the power of flight on Appa’s behalf. 

“Ahhh!” cried out a greatly saddened little girl as she ran away from the crowd and stood next to Katara. She had brown hair tied down in two buns that both concealed her ears. 

“Aang, don’t go! I’ll miss you!” The girl pleaded with tears building up in her violet eyes.

“I’ll miss you too.” Aang sadly admitted with one last look at Katara. She frowns, not wanting to this to be the last time they see each other again. 

“Come on, Goku. Let’s go.” Aang dolorously murmured as Appa began to move forward. The Sky Bison waddled away from the Southern Water Tribe while Goku slowly flew Nimbus in the same direction. Not able to convince the monk to stay, the little girl squeaks miserably and walks back to the village in defeat. Katara, however, doesn’t dare move an inch from her spot. 

“Katara, you’ll feel better after you-“ Kanna attempted to relax her angered granddaughter, but was swiftly interrupted by the almost murderous scowl of disappointment etched on Katara’s face.

“You happy now? There goes my one chance at becoming a waterbender!” yelled Katara furiously with a gesture at where Aang and Goku used to be. She then lividly marches back into the village, leaving behind a greatly saddened Kanna.

“All right, ready our defenses! The Fire Nation could be on our shores any moment now!” Sokka authoritatively commanded a group of Water Tribe boys to prepare for battle. While he did know that the Fire Nation was indeed coming very soon, Sokka would never expect its banished prince to be approaching the village with one sole purpose in mind: capturing Goku and the Avatar at all costs!


	9. Fire Fighting

Among an expansive collection of ice formations, one of them is currently housed by Aang and Appa. The Sky Bison is curled up in a circular crevice carved into the structure while Aang sits above him in a much smaller one. Goku, on the other hand, sits Indian style on Nimbus in a semi-meditative position. He is either attempting to focus his energy or sleeping out of boredom. It’s kind of hard to tell when his eyes are closed. 

“Goku, do you think we’ll ever see Katara again? I really liked her.” Aang sighed with a look of guilt-ridden disappointment and regret.

“I don’t know. As long as you guys are still friends, a part of her will still be with you I guess.” Goku thought considerately, his pupils still unopened in keen dedication to his sensory abilities. The monkey boy felt distracted all of a sudden, feeling about a dozen small chis getting closer or further away. He couldn’t tell. What he could tell, however, was that each power reading was somewhat…warm within his subconscious mind. 

“Warm…almost hot. Like a…like a…” Goku pondered determinedly, pools of sweat leaking out of his pores. His inner suspicions were then quickly revealed to be true after his body erupted with energy, the last thing to be seen in the black void that was his central source of thought being a large flame of orange and yellow!

“Thanks, Goku. Sometimes I forget how wise you-“ Aang cut himself off at the sight of Goku shaking in place, drops of perspirant drenching his face and body. Concerned, Aang attempted to wake the martial artist up from his deep meditation by poking him with his glider. 

“FIRE!” Goku shouted with a sense of eureka, his pupils shooting open in delight. Not expecting this sudden awakening, Aang flinched and almost dropped his trusty gliding staff into the waters below.

“Gah! Fire? What do you mean?” Aang shrieked in fright and curiosity at Goku’s sudden epiphany. The Saiyan kid just pointed to the part of the ocean residing behind Aang and Appa, glaring dangerously.

“I mean there’s a Fire Nation ship sailing toward the village! I could sense a ton of energies on board. Two of them are much bigger than the others.” Goku addressed in concern for the Southern Water Tribe’s personal well-being. Horrified, the Avatar turned to see Zuko’s ship slowly moving through the water within a haze of hog. Stacks of black smoke also ascended out of the boat’s pipes as it gained momentum. 

“The villagers! We gotta go help them!” Aang proclaimed with a very Avatar-esc state of mind, even if he didn’t realize it. Said airbender was about to open the wings on his glider, but was suddenly interrupted by Goku.

“We’ll be much faster on Nimbus! Climb on!” Goku offered with a pat at Nimbus’s technical “backseat”. Gulping nervously, Aang made a literal leap of faith and jumped onto the back of Goku’s magical cloud. Unsure of his pure heart status, Aang was surprised to see that he stayed in place without threat of being given an unwanted bath in the South Pole’s oceans. 

“Huh, what do you know? I guess being the Avatar does have its advantages.” Aang nervously snickered in relief. Goku giggled the same way and smiled at the monk.

“Appa, wait here.” Aang ordered the Sky Bison, receiving a groggy moan of exhaustion from the tired Sky Bison in response. 

“Brace yourself, Aang! Nimbus is about to go top speed!” Goku warned Aang before the start of their departure. The Avatar held tightly to the monkey boy’s sides, his glider perched in between near the lap area. 

“Top speed? What do you m-“ Like a bullet departing from its gun, Nimbus speedily streaked across the sky! This sudden propulsion rendered the surrounding environment completely invisible to Aang as he struggled to keep his eyes open.

“Waaaaaaaa!” Aang screamed fearfully, clutching Goku’s torso for dear life. Goku kept his composure intact, completely dedicated to stopping the Fire Nation’s attack before it escalated into a full-on massacre of unforeseeable proportions. His spiky hair flowed with the wind as a sonic boom permeated from Nimbus’s building momentum, causing some submerged ice bergs to break apart and collapse back into the water. 

In preparation for the Fire Nation’s arrival, Sokka dons a new outfit much more suitable for close quarters combat. This uniform is a tightly bound gray tank top with two pairs of white feathers taking the place of shoulder pads on each side. Underneath the top is a dark blue leotard that covers his arms and legs, having long sleeves both tied down with a lighter gray fabric. Sokka is currently winding the same string around his wrists, biting off leftover pieces that he doesn’t need to use with his mouth. 

“This time I’ll finally be able to fight. I’ll make you proud, dad.” Sokka thought confidently as he put on a new pair of brown winter boots, recalling the day his father left as if it happened mere hours ago. Placed in the center of his tent, a wooden table balanced various bowls filled to the brim with multi-colored pigments. He dabs his fingers in the black paint and traces it along his pupils, drawing out two small triangles on his chin and a larger one underneath the tip of his wolf tail right afterwards. Almost finished, Sokka cakes the upper portion of his face in gray war paint and the lower part a pure white just below his lip. With his fierce new makeover completed, Sokka picks up his trusty blue boomerang and attaches it to the back. 

As the Fire Navy ship navigates through the misty fog, Zuko removes his sleeping gown and gets ready for battle as well. Two servants attach a much bulkier set of armor onto the banished prince, securing it together with pieces of red string. He also has a collar with thin yellow strips surrounding his neck, curving down symmetrically to form a “V” shape. After putting on the firebender’s matching black-red boots, a helmet is placed on top of his head.

“After the Avatar and Goku are captured, I’ll finally be able to come home. Then, I can prove that I am worthy of the throne, father. You’ll see.” Zuko firmly pondered, thinking of the possibilities regaining his honor would hopefully bring to fruition. His helm resembles that of a black Spartan head piece without the nose cover. In its place, a crown of fire replicating the symbol of his homeland is perched on top. 

After looking back at a flickering candle indicating the passage of time, Sokka, club in hand, runs out of the tent and perches himself on top of the village’s nearest bordering wall. He diligently observes the purveying cloud of fog, trying to predict where the Fire Nation would exactly strike from. Then, out of nowhere, a faint sound of cracking is heard in the distance, startling the villagers of the Southern Water Tribe. The entire village starts to rumble as a result of the upcoming warship, bits of snow breaking apart beneath their very feet. One of Sokka’s watchtowers crumbles to pieces in response to this unprecedented quake. 

“Oh man!” Sokka whined miserably, disappointed by the unfortunate fate of his intricately crafted snow sculpture. The other villagers flee in terror, attempting to hide out in their respective tents for safety purposes. Katara, concerned for her brother, holds off on running away, but starts to reconsider her decision at the sight of Zuko’s enormous ship. Its approaching silhouette completely towers over Sokka and the whole tribe, much to his aghast horror. 

“Oh maaan…” a horrified Sokka gulped, wrongfully underestimating the type of power he was going to be dealing with. The Fire Navy boat cleaves through the ice, splitting it in two separate halves as it forcefully cruised onward. As Katara guides her grandmother to safety, a little boy that fell over blankly stares at the ship in terror. Hearing his desperate cries for help, Katara sprints over to the boy and carries him out of harm’s way just in time. After dropping him off at a tent, Katara catches sight of her petrified older brother standing in front of the boat’s destructive path.

“Sokka, get out of the way!” Katara hysterically screamed to the paralyzed Water Tribe warrior. Sokka refuses to listen to his sister’s warnings and raises up his club defensively, resulting in him being pushed back a few feet due the village border being rendered a snowy pile of mush. With the wall destroyed, Zuko’s ship comes to an abrupt halt and starts hissing in the form of excess steam. Much to the confusion of the villagers, the metallic boat’s blade-like bow plummets into the snow, missing Sokka by just a hair. As Sokka awkwardly falls down on his rear, Zuko and two Fire Nation soldiers emerge from the presiding fog, using the fallen bow as a makeshift staircase. As Zuko gets closer to the highly intimidated villagers, four more of his men reveal themselves from the back, three of them carrying triple-bladed spears. 

“Graaaahhh!” Sokka let loose a powerful battle cry as he charged the Fire Nation prince with his club perched overhead. Not at all bothered by this threat, Zuko kicks the club out of his hands to the left and sends Sokka flying off the platform to the right. The boy lands headfirst into a pile of snow, struggling to free his upper body. The 16-year-old firebender pretends as if nothing happened and proceeds to stand in front of the Southern Water Tribe villagers imposingly, his posse of guards situated behind him in two separate groups. 

“Where are you hiding them?” Zuko demanded angrily. A wave of silence comes in response to his question, the villagers having no clue as to what the teen is implying. His yellow eyes dart from side to side before roughly pulling Kanna out of the crowd, retching her hand free of her horrified granddaughter’s.

“They’d be about this age, one a master of all elements and the other with the tail of a monkey?” Zuko elaborated further in growing irritation, lightly shaking the old woman. Seeing that this wasn’t getting anywhere based on the villagers’ vague expressions, the prince throws Kanna back to Katara and produces a wide arc of fire at the uncooperative mob. 

“I know you’re hiding them!” Zuko stubbornly exclaimed with a raise of his clenched fist. In the background, Sokka gets himself out of the snow bank and retrieves his discarded club. His face is mostly back to normal, a majority of the warpaint being washed out in the snow. 

“Haaaaaah!” Sokka shouts loudly, attempting to execute a sneak attack on the prince. Zuko counters at the last second by flipping Sokka in front of him, causing the subdued boy to land in a crouched position.

“Daaaoh!” Sokka cried as he strategically rolled away from Zuko’s blast of fire. He then throws his boomerang at the firebender, almost hitting Zuko in the face as it spins away into the upper atmosphere. 

“Show no fear!” A young boy cheered on as he threw Sokka his spear. The 15-year-old catches the weapon and runs toward Zuko, hoping to change the course of the fight thus far. 

“Ok think, Sokka. What was that thing Goku told you about?” Sokka thought back to a few hours ago, trying to figure out a way to get the upper hand on Zuko.

Flashback:  
“Well, handling a spear should sort of be like my staff here. Each hand movement should be perfectly matched in order to improve the speed of each progressive hit.” Goku informed a now fully invested Sokka. He then further demonstrated his skills by doing different poses with the staff, both defensive and offensive in nature. After a while, the interdimensional traveler topped it all off with a forward jab, mirroring the sharp pierce of an arrowhead. 

“That’s it! I’ll try to spin my spear like he did with his staff!” Sokka yelled happily in his head. Still running towards the prepared firebender, Sokka spun his spear around in a circle using both hands, trying to increase its speed. Reaching his intended target, Sokka tops off the artificial wheel with a forward jab at Zuko’s exposed stomach. The prince, however, manages to grab onto the spear’s arrowhead just before it could make contact with his armor. 

“Huh?” Sokka gaped in surprise. Zuko snapped the piece of bone off and used his forearms to break more of the spear’s remaining parts. He then nabbed the spear from Sokka’s hands and poked at the tan-skinned teen’s head three times. After knocking Sokka off of his feet, Zuko snaps the rest of the spear in half and throws the leftover scraps onto the ground, looking very disinterested. 

“On second thought, maybe Goku made it look too easy…” Sokka deadpanned, while rubbing his aching forehead. Just as all chances of victory seemed lost, the boomerang Sokka previously tossed moments before came back, slamming into Zuko’s head in a loud clang of metal. Fixing up his disheveled helmet, Zuko’s growls irritably and conjures two daggers out of fire in rage. Terrified, the villagers cower close together in anticipation of Zuko’s revenge, but are suddenly soothed by a familiar chirping sound in the distance. 

“What is that noise?” Zuko hissed in confusion, looking at his men for answers. Before he could say anything else, the prince was abruptly crashed into by an extremely fast gray object, knocking his horned helmet off and causing him to unceremoniously faceplant into the snow. The Flying Nimbus then parks itself in front of the periled members of the Southern Water Tribe, revealing a very pleased Goku and Aang. Their sudden appearance incites a series of whooping cheers from the village’s children. 

“Hey, Katara. Hey, Sokka.” Aang greeted in slight wooziness, jumping off of the magical cloud with his staff in hand. Goku does a simple greeting in the form of an eye-smile and peace sign combo before glaring at the present band of firebenders. 

“Hi, Aang and Goku. Thanks for coming.” Sokka grumbled reluctantly, yet in heavily concealed gratitude. Getting up from the ground, Zuko silently orders his soldiers to surround the two boys and assumes a fighting stance. Aang holds his glider defensively while Goku, surprisingly, stands in place without moving a muscle. 

“Looking for me?” Aang calmly assumed. 

“You’re the airbender? You’re the Avatar?” Zuko shockingly questioned in realization. Everyone in the village was collectively taken aback by this stunning news, especially Sokka and Katara. 

“Aang?” Katara quietly whispered in astonishment that her goofy 12-year-old friend was the prophesized savior of the entire world. 

“No way!” A baffled Sokka gasped in disbelief. 

“And I’m guessing you know about me too?” Goku glowered, his battle-hardened glare still on full display. Zuko glanced at the young martial artist and inspected him from head to toe. In that moment, his eyes widened at the sight of the renowned bushy brown tail twisting about aimlessly. 

“The chi-user, Son Goku.” Zuko admitted his recognition of the boy, returning a similar death stare. How he described the spiky-haired boy threw Katara and Sokka for a loop, not seeing anything of the sort being practiced by him during his time in the village. 

“Chi-user? Gran-Gran, what does he mean by that?” Katara unsurely asked her grandmother since she seemed to be aware of the legend relating to Goku in the Fire Nation.

“Chi is life energy, or the energy everyone, benders and non-benders alike, are made up of. It was said that that beam of blue light shot by Goku in the legend was an example of chi in its purest and most devastating form.” Kanna summarized based off of prior knowledge accustomed from her youth and, admittedly, much darker experiences she did not like remembering.

“Beam of light? I’ve never seen him do that.” Sokka doubted uneasily, growing more and more unsure of what Goku could be capable of. Sure, he’s good with a staff, but why was he so good with one in the first place? And how was he able to jump higher than Aang without the use of airbending? Questions upon questions were suddenly taking form in his extremely skeptical mind. 

“Maybe there’s more to the boy than just a strange monkey tail. Let’s see.” Kanna quietly urged her two grandchildren to observe Goku’s attitude in battle. 

“I’ve spent years preparing for this encounter. Training, meditating. You two are just children!” Zuko fumed in outrage as he circled around Goku and Aang, ready to take initiative and strike when need be.

“Well, you’re just a teenager.” Aang pointed out in confusion, not sure what Zuko’s point was. The Fire Nation prince shot a fire blast at Aang for this childish remark, but it was effortlessly blocked by Goku, who seemingly materialized from one spot to another in mere seconds. 

“What?! How did he get there so fast?” Zuko contemplated in utter befuddlement. Seeing that the fire did nothing to harm Goku, the other six soldiers began to close in, ready to aid the Fire Lord’s one and only son upon his direct orders. 

“Did you see that? He wacked the fire away like it was nothing!” An amazed Sokka squeaked hysterically, not even noticing a hint of scorch marks on Goku’s exposed skin. Standing next to him, Katara’s mouth was agape in utter speechlessness. 

“Sorry whatshisname, but whatever training you’ve done in the past would never prepare you for someone like me. Not even close.” Goku chastised the antagonistic royal as he proceeded to glower at him and his cautious group of approaching soldiers. Zuko’s fists clenched with considerable pressure, building smoke flowing outward from the pores of his skin. 

“It’s Prince Zuko. Remember that once I beat you.” Zuko seethed angrily with his fists outstretched in preparation to shoot another stream of firebending. His men reciprocate the gesture and completely surround the duo, preventing any attempt at escape.

“Aang, get behind me. I’ll deal with them.” Goku lowly ordered to the Avatar as he adjusted himself into an all too familiar fighting stance. Aang’s eyes widened at what Goku just nonchalantly implied, seeing how the martial artist was currently outnumbered 7 to 1. 

“I can’t let you do this alone! I’m the Avatar. This is just as much as my concern as yours.” Aang whispered back in immense worry. Goku glanced back at the monk appreciatively, but shook his head nonetheless. 

“Don’t worry about me. Just look at this as a test run of my abilities.” Goku soothed lightheartedly with a small grin. Still unconvinced, Aang nodded hesitantly anyways and walked backwards to stand in front of the on-edge Southern Water Tribe villagers. Zuko, noticing the Avatar’s swift evasion from the circle, is expectedly infuriated. 

“On my command, fire at will!” an enraged Zuko commanded his sextet of firebending soldiers. Not at all bothered by the synchronized attack just about to take place, Goku’s eyes flutter closed and he takes a deep breath of concentration. The world around him seems to move in slow motion, granting Goku the ability to anticipate any given movement about to take place. 

“FIRE!” screamed Zuko as him and each of his men simultaneously let loose huge fire blasts at the spot where Goku was standing. The combined might of their high-powered bending melded together to form an enormous eruption of orange flames, seemingly incinerating Goku upon impact! The sheer horror of the event is unquestionably spread all throughout the present crowd. 

“GOKU!” Aang, Katara, and Sokka cried out in unison. Upon seeing the pillar of combustion smoldering where Goku used to be, tears of sadness fell down the Water Tribe children’s cheeks while their older counterparts covered their mouths in pure revulsion of the Fire Nation’s unrestrained brutality. Aang fell to his knees, clasping the sides of his head miserably.

“No…W-why didn’t you let me help you?! Now…you’re…you’re…” Aang blubbered in a sudden state of misery while weakly pounding his fist on the ground. He tilted his head to peak back at the supposed resting place of his friend, longingly gazing at the dissipating construct of firebending. Zuko did the same, wanting to know for sure if the infamous chi-user was fully detained or not. However, what surprised the two benders was that within the fading smoke, the likeness of Goku stood completely unscathed as if nothing happened at all!

“I-Impossible…” Zuko stuttered frightfully, almost falling backwards in recoil. As the Fire Nation soldiers exchanged glances of unabashed befuddlement and shock, the still image of Goku suddenly faded out of existence in an orange-black blur. This converted the villagers’ prior sadness into one of widespread fascination instantaneously. 

“Aang, if Goku’s still alive, where could he have gone? You know more about him than we do…right?” Katara unsurely inquired to the greatly relieved airbending monk. While Aang was immensely gratified by the fact that his otherworldly friend was still standing, even he could not come up with a proper explanation as to what said monkey boy just pulled off. Was there really more to chi than just sensing and shooting energy?

“I-I don’t know. All I’ve seen him do is shoot a beam of light at the Southern Air Temple. He never hinted at being able to do anything like this…” Aang gulped uncertainly as he remained kneeling on the icy surface, waiting to observe how this fight would exactly end up panning out. Meanwhile, a paranoid Zuko frantically darted his head around at an almost 360˚ angle, trying to locate the Saiyan warrior’s expertly concealed hiding place. 

“Keep your eyes peeled! The chi-user has to be here somewhere!” Zuko grunted frustratingly, walking towards different spots near his parked ship and the village’s entrance. While the prince was distracted, one of the skull-masked firebenders began to hear the ever-so faint sound of footsteps becoming more and more audible as he marched on. 

“Sir, I think I heard some-PWAAAHH!” The fire nation soldier shouted painfully as a high-speed chop to the neck sent his entire body crashing to the ground. Zuko spun his body around in response, terrified that the guard was down for the count in merely a split second’s time.

“Spears at the ready!” Zuko barked authoritatively, pointing expectantly at his three unmasked crewmembers. Before any defense could be practiced, all three spears were snapped completely in half and their owners didn’t fair all that much better. A recognizable streak of orange and black crashed into their legs, smacking them back-first onto the cold-hard surface in the process. 

“Show yourself, chi-user! Before I-Hwau-uh-uh-uh…” groaned Zuko as a small, pale fist was imprinted deep into his stomach area! At last, Goku finally revealed himself once more, squatted down to heighten the damage of his chi-enhanced punch. He did indeed have no such burn marks or injuries from Zuko’s prior attack, most likely dodging it in the nick of time with the utilization of his insane speed.

“How disappointing…” Goku mumbled aloud, pulling out his enclosed hand from the Fire Nation heir’s battered armored. After being relieved of the additional weight, Zuko clutched his stomach in unsuppressed agony, coughing out a mixture of blood and saliva as he limped away to a safer distance. The martial artists from an alternate dimension then blew at his sore hand and turned toward the village in kind. 

“Chi really is something ain’t it, huh Aang?” Goku sniggered, addressing the monk with a wink and thumbs up combo. The villagers all cheered harmoniously, absolutely blown away by both the monkey boy’s nearly superhuman abilities and surprising getaway from death. These whoops of glee, on the other hand, were white noise for the ailing Prince Zuko, still playing back Goku’s most recent words and how similar they were to his own father’s 2 years prior. 

“How disappointing…How disappointing…You have disappointed me for the last time, Zuko…” Miscellaneous thoughts scattered throughout Zuko’s insecure mindscape, causing his vision to be drenched with an anger-filled red. As his two remaining soldiers attempted to console their leader, Zuko suddenly generated the largest fire blast thus far and sent it careening toward the exposed villagers of the Southern Water Tribe in blind rage. Sensing the fast approaching compost of energy, Goku, stunned, peeked behind his back and took the extra precautions.

“Watch out!” Goku warned at the last moment. Before he could do anything to stop it, Aang jumped in front of the makeshift flamethrower and spun his glider around at high-speeds using the air around him. While this did dissipate a great majority of Zuko’s firebending attack, some smaller remnants flew back toward the villagers, causing them to shield their faces in fear. Hearing their screams of discomfort, a horrified Aang’s eyes widen sympathetically towards the danger he put them in for simply revealing his identity as the Avatar. 

“If Goku and I go with you, will you promise to leave everyone alone?” Aang offered to the temperate prince, holding his staff in place as a sign of peace. Zuko, still struggling to get up due to Goku’s hard-hitting punch, contemplates the Avatar’s deal for a few seconds before nodding understandably in agreement. 

“Aang, we can’t just-“ Goku attempted to argue against Aang’s honorable decision to surrender.

“Goku, you’ve done enough. We need to think about what’s best for them right now, not us.” Aang interrupted in further justification of his actions. Goku, listening to the monk’s words, sadly shares one last look at the nerve-wracked Southern Water Tribe denizens and understands completely where he is coming from. Even though he was powerful enough to send Zuko packing, Goku knew that the safety of the entire village would eventually be put even more at risk because of it. 

“Fine…” Goku sighed irritably, nodding slowly, so Zuko could take note of it. The two soldiers unharmed by the martial artist’s onslaught then roughly escorted Aang and Goku towards their ship’s bow. In the background, Goku’s previous “victims” moan in pain and follow after Zuko, picking up the scraps of their broken weapons and armor as they did so. 

“No! Goku! Aang, don’t do this!” Katara sadly protested the two boys’ decision to give themselves up after all they have done. 

“Don’t worry, Katara. It’ll be okay.” Aang comforted half-heartedly, being shoved by one of the soldiers as he proceeded onward. Katara’s face contorted into one of absolute misery, not at all pleased by this sudden turn of events. 

“Take care of Appa for me until I get back!” Aang requested outwardly in misplaced positivity. Goku silently glared daggers into the ground, knowing full well that coming back to the village was slim to none until further notice. 

“Head a course for the Fire Nation. I’m going home.” Zuko declared confidently, marching inside of the ship to make further preparations for departure. The bow then rises up from the ground, ready to trap Goku and Aang within. Surrounded by three identical Fire Nation soldiers, the two share one last melancholic look at Katara. With tears in her eyes, the waterbending girl is helpless to prevent the bow from sealing shut, taking away the Avatar and his chi-using friend.


	10. A Journey Begins

After Goku and Aang willingly handed themselves over to the Fire Nation, an immense wave of despair engulfed the entire Southern Water Tribe. Each villager adopted looks of guilt and remorse as they made repairs to their recently infiltrated village. While a majority of them either helped pile up snow or readjust a fallen tent, Katara stood near the icy shoreline, contemplatively gazing into the distant horizon with two unlikely heroes still on her mind.

“We have to go after that ship, Sokka. Aang and Goku both saved our tribe, now we have to save them.” Katara determinedly proclaimed with the newly risen sun shining down on her. Sokka, much to his sister’s obliviousness, was in the process of packing his belongings to prepare for said semi rescue mission Katara just brought up.

“Katara I-“ Sokka voiced in order to garner the heavily concerned Katara’s attention. However, the waterbending girl’s scrambled thoughts prevented her from hearing him just yet.

“Why can’t you realize that those two on our side? If we don’t help them, no one will. I know you don’t like Aang, but we owe him and Goku—“ Katara ranted self-righteously in what she perceived as convincing Sokka to alter his previous outlook.

“Katara!” Sokka finally interjected in slight irritation. “Are you gonna talk all day, or are you comin’ with me?” The tribal warrior continued with a gesture at his newly obtained canoe. The sight of this reveal caused Katara’s currently frazzled mood to brighten up into one of pure joy.

“Sokka!” Katara gasped happily, running up to give her brother a well-deserved hug. Just as the two were about to hop in to follow Zuko’s ship, Kanna unexpectantly walked in on them. 

“What do you two think you’re doing?” Gran-Gran accused in a false sense of displeasure. Katara and Sokka nonchalantly spun around and acted as if nothing was happening, both sporting nervous grins of differing sizes. 

“You’ll need these.” Kanna warmly reminded, holding up each of her grandchildren’s respective sleeping bags. “You have a long journey ahead of you.” At this open offer of encouragement, Katara and Sokka gape at each other in surprise. 

“It’s been so long since I’ve had hope, but you brought it back to life, my little waterbender.” Kanna lovingly expressed her gratitude, sharing a tight embrace with Katara. After Katara was released from the hug and given her bag, Kanna approached Sokka. 

“And you, my brave warrior, be nice to your sister.” Kanna lightly scolded with a sly smile on her wrinkled face. 

“Yeah, okay Gran.” Sokka begrudgingly promised, nervously patting Kanna on the back as she gave him a farewell hug as well. 

“Aang is the Avatar and Goku has abilities unique to him alone. Together they could be the world’s only chance for peace. You found them for a reason. Now your destinies are intertwined with theirs.” Kanna understandingly emphasized, addressing the utmost importance of her two grandchildren’s new roles. Katara and Sokka exchange glances of uneasiness, but refuse to turn back on their promise anyways. 

“There’s no way we’re going to catch a warship a canoe.” Katara pointed out doubtfully. On top of a hill concealed by snow, the massive form of Appa waddles up to its peak and roars groggily in greeting. 

“Appa!” Katara beamed excitedly, making her way towards the Sky Bison in anticipation for possible airborne travel. 

“You just looove taking me out of my comfort zone, don’t you?” Sokka grumbled in annoyance, not as pleased to see the lovable clump of fluff as his sister was. He then shared one last goodbye with Gran-Gran and reluctantly followed after Katara. 

Zuko’s metallic vessel cruised through the ocean, starting a long trip back to the Fire Nation that would last who knows how long. On board its deck, the three skull-masked soldiers from before continued to surround Goku and Aang, inspecting their every move to the most minute detail. While the Avatar himself merely had his hands bound together with an extensive piece of string, Goku was another story entirely. Seeing how much of a threat he was in combat, Zuko took extra precautions by cuffing both of his wrists with a large slab of obsidian steel that arguably almost weighed a ton. He did the same with his feet and tail as well, a chain extending from the back to attach the two-separate confinement-based devices. 

“How am I supposed to move in this?! Aang was only tied up, so why can’t I be!” Goku grunted uneasily, only able to waddle from side to side due to his uncomfortable restraints. Zuko only grew more angered by the fact that the martial artist was making an absolute joke out of his imprisonment.

“Because you’re a threat, chi-user! And the only way to prevent you from blasting my ship to kingdom come is suppressing the main sources of your power at all costs. Simple enough for you?” Zuko condescendingly snapped, pointing to his heavily bruised stomach for further emphasis. Goku just sniffed angrily, returning the Fire Nation prince’s glare. Zuko huffed irritably in response and began to inspect the duo’s individual staffs, one of which he managed to scavenge from Goku’s back holster. 

“These staffs will make excellent gifts for my father. I suppose you wouldn’t know of fathers, being raised by monks.” Zuko briskly stated, souring the Avatar’s mood just a bit more.

“Take the chi-user and the Avatar to the prison hold, and take these to my quarters.” Zuko commanded each his men, handing the staffs over to Uncle Iroh as said 16-year-old marched away. 

“Hey, you mind taking these to his quarters for me?” Iroh casually asked a nearby firebender, being too lazy to perform the task himself. The old man passed on the ancient weapons and both individuals followed after Zuko in succession. Goku and Aang, as instructed, were escorted to a hidden staircase leading to the Fire Nation warship’s lowermost compartment. Due to Goku’s slow movement, Aang helped alleviate the struggle by walking right to next to him as they descended. The two were brought down to a long hallway filled with pipes and various rooms, lit up by red lanterns. 

“So, I guess you’ve never fought an airbender before. I bet I could take you both with my hands tied behind my back.” Aang snidely claimed in an intentionally bragging tone. The monk shared a quick wink with his monkey-tailed friend, giving him a subtle warning of what’s to come. Goku, taking note of this, continued to waddle as if he saw nothing, but secretly started extending his arms and legs outward to produce excess pressure on the cuffs’ interior. 

“Silence.” The unamused firebender walking in front coldly reprimanded. Each soldier stopped in place near the prison door, causing Goku and Aang to cease walking as well. As one of them brought out a golden key and attempted to place it in the lock, cracks ruptured over all three of Goku’s metal cuffs. With the sound of crinkling metal diverting the attentions of the two firebenders for a moment, Aang took initiative and breathed out a blast of air from his mouth. This sensation of bending sent Aang careening backward, slamming the soldier behind him into the staircase and the other into the door. 

“Haaaaa!” Goku screamed triumphantly as he fully outstretched his feet and arms, tearing the metal slabs into hundreds of small pieces. Massaging his aching wrists, Goku sighed happily and began performing some basic stretches to get back in tip-top shape. The firebender attempting to unlock the cell door caught sight of this effortless exercise and started convulsing in unidentifiable tongues.

“W-hat in the world a-are yo-Gyahh!” The Fire Nation squealed painfully as Goku swiftly chopped at his neck’s most prominent pressure point. 

“Goku, hurry up! We need to get our staffs back!” Aang yelled out apprehensively in warning.

“Right!” Goku responded, sprinting to where they first entered the corridor. They both jumped out of the entrance and ran onto the deck at break-neck speeds. In order to increase their chances of getting away, Aang opened the upper deck’s door with an airbending-infused kick and lead his martial artist friend into a much longer hall. The two frantically looked over their shoulders, making sure that they weren’t being pursued. 

“The Avatar and chi-user have escaped!” announced a firebender previously knocked out near the staircase. The helmsman navigating the ship is present to hear this bad news and ran off to inform Prince Zuko before it was too late. 

Gaining on Zuko’s ship, a still tired Appa continues to swim through the water with Katara and Sokka perched in his saddle. Katara is grabbing ahold of the Sky Bison’s reigns, hoping that something more “grand” will happen if given some time. 

“Go. Fly. Soar.” Sokka monotonously mumbled, his arms crossed in boredom. Katara glanced at her older brother sternly, not having time for his unhelpful behavior. Since Goku and Aang’s lives were potentially on the line, they needed to reach them faster somehow and Nimbus was out of the question due to its exclusive accessibility to its owner. 

“Please, Appa. We need your help. Aang and Goku need your help.” Katara pleaded helplessly to the unreliable Sky Bison. 

“Up. Ascend. Elevate.” Sokka blandly uttered, half-heartedly giving his best attempt at encouragement. 

“Sokka doesn’t believe you can fly, but I do, Appa. Come on, don’t you want to save Aang and Goku?” Katara stated kindly, stroking the fur of Appa’s round head as she did so. The second mention of his owner seemed to boost the elemental creature’s resolve, resulting in him shuffling up from the ocean with a booming grunt. 

“What was it that kid said? Yee-haw? Hup-hup? Wah-hoo? Uh…Yip-yip?” Sokka unsurely guessed with a casual shrug on the last one. Suddenly, much to the boy’s puzzlement, Appa began to erupt with motion and steadily rose his curved tail up into the air. The Sky Bison then smacked it against the water in a larger than average splash and took up a running start, finally managing to soar above the clouds as Aang previously claimed!

“You did it, Sokka!” Katara squealed in excitement over Appa’s long awaited departure from the surface. 

“He’s flying! He’s flying! Katara, he’s –“ Sokka shouted extatically while looking down from the back of Appa’s saddle. His praises of the animal are cut-short by the smug, I-told-you-so smirk plastered on Katara’s face. He sheepishly coughed and attempted to reconstitute his prior indifference. 

“I mean, big deal. He’s flying. Goku’s cloud could do that too.” Sokka disingenuously brushed off, not even attempting to mask his smile of admiration for too long. Appa then elevated himself higher into the sky, ready to retrieve the imprisoned Goku and Aang. 

Aang and Goku are still running through the upper deck of Zuko’s ship, trying to locate their stolen Southern Air Temple gliders. After taking a sharp turn to the left, the duo are intercepted by three armed and ready Fire Nation guards. They each wield medieval-looking broadswords, weapons that would seem threatening to literally anyone besides them. 

“You haven’t seen our staffs around, have you?” Aang obliviously pried, jerking his head back slightly to address the presence of Goku. The guards ignore his question and raise up their swords in defense, ready to apprehend the two kids. In retaliation, Aang amplifies his speed with the use of airbending to spiral across the ceiling and walls, narrowly escaping capture by cutting through the area between one of the soldier’s legs. Goku, in less impressive fashion, fazed out of existence and immediately rematerialized where Aang managed to run to. The trio of firebenders, not surprisingly, were completely dumbfounded by the boys’ expertise in evasion. 

“Thanks anyway!” Aang mockingly chimed from a faraway distance, grinning from ear to ear alongside the martial artist. Aang and Goku moved onto another flight of stairs right afterwards, expectantly halted by yet another firebender perched in a fighting stance. The soldier shot out an elongated wave of fire out of his palm, hoping to hit both intended targets at the same time. However, the airbending monk and monkey boy simultaneously flip over the projected blast in alternating directions. Aang somersaulted on top of the soldier’s spiked helmet, managing to cut the rope binding his hands as he propelled himself forward. The firebender roughly fell on his back as result of this unprecedented motion, leaving the man’s face wide open for Goku’s fist! This sudden attack knocked the soldier unconscious instantly.

“Oh, whoops. I think I put a bit too much power into that punch.” Goku reprimanded himself nervously, poking at the firebender’s cracked faceplate to make sure he was alive. After hearing a feint moan of soreness, Goku sighed in relief and hurriedly followed the Avatar to their next destination. They both looked through multiple doors to identify their respective possessions, only finding spears and such. However, in the third room, Goku and Aang regrettably barged in on a snoozing Iroh, snoring to his heart’s content in a pair of red-yellow pajamas. 

“Sorry…” The two whispered inaudibly as they slowly closed the door to prevent him from waking up. As they proceeded onward with their search, Goku caught sight of a room with its door wide open. Within the room were Aang’s brown glider and Goku’s maroon bo staff.

“Aang, look! There they are!” Goku called out before the eager monk could continue running. At the recollection of his most cherished airbending possession, Aang blindly entered the room in an attempt to grab the glider and go. Goku, sensing another signature of energy inside, was a bit more cautious and attempted to stop the frantic 12-year-old. 

“Wait a second! There’s someone in there!” Goku warned in concern, running up to tug at Aang’s shirt. The martial artist inadvertently stormed into the cubic local as well, unable to prevent the door from being sealed shut by a heavily prepared and angry Prince Zuko.

“Looks like I underestimated the two of you.” Zuko remarked gruffly, narrowing his eyes at the two of them in scorn. After an intense stare down, the Fire Nation prince squatted down into a combat-oriented position and launched a massive fireball at Aang. The Avatar just barely avoids the bent flame, causing Zuko to retaliate with a few more blasts of the same caliber. In the background, Goku performs a speedy backflip that sends him directly to his and Aang’s staffs. Leaning against a nightstand placed beneath two intersecting Dao blades, Goku speedily slips the holster of his staff around his right shoulder and grasps the Avatar’s glider firmly with his other hand. Meanwhile, Aang suppresses Zuko’s fire with a pocket of wind and then projects an air scooter that he maneuvers sporadically along the walls and ceiling. The 16-year-old prince produces arced flares in order to pursue the wandering airbender while also kicking out one of his legs to harm the observing Goku. Seeing this coming a mile away, Goku dissipates the approaching inferno with a chi-enhanced palm and rolls out of reach. 

“Aang, catch!” Goku yelled audibly, tossing Aang’s staff like a javelin in the Olympics. After Zuko managed to shatter Aang’s scooter with a flaming leg swipe, the Avatar jumps through a Fire Nation tapestry hanging on the wall and miraculously grabs hold of his glider with one hand. He then positions himself over to Goku’s side, anxiously waiting for Zuko’s next offensive measure. Not wanting to waste too much energy, Goku thinks back to a move from the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai that could get him and Aang out of harm’s reach without the unneeded hassle of close quarters combat.

“Aang, close your eyes and don’t open them until I say so.” Goku whispered authoritatively without moving a muscle. Despite being partially confused, Aang trusted the martial artist’s judgement anyway and did as he instructed. Goku nodded in thanks and rested both hands on the sides of his face, each finger spread open near the eyelids. Zuko, having no tolerance for the chi-user’s games, bared his teeth and readied another fire blast. 

“SOLAR FLARE!” Goku screamed in a booming, echoey voice. A blinding white light shot out of every corner in the Saiyan child’s body, concealing the entire room in a bluish glow. Appearing to be a large dome as bright as the sun itself, Zuko’s eyes singed with pain at the sight of such an otherworldly trick. Outside of the ship, beams of white shot out like spotlights from the room’s rectangular windows. 

“Let’s go!” Goku hissed determinedly to Aang as the poor monk struggled to keep his pupils completely shut. The two ran out of Zuko’s living quarters with their staffs in hand and attempted to discover an escape route of some kind. After a moment or two, the Solar Flare’s colorless hue faded away and left a sightless Zuko cowering on the floor in anguish. 

“M-my eyes…T-that chi-user did something to them…” Zuko fumed irritably, trying to regain some semblance of his lost vision. After blinking a few times to check, Zuko looked around his room to find that Aang and Goku were long gone. Not wanting his last two chances at redemption to get away, Zuko slowly got up and chased after them. Close by, Aang and Goku discovered a final door leading to the main control room. 

“So, what was that “Solar Flare” move anyway?” Aang questioned curiously as he produced a small tornado of wind to spin the wheel of its hatch. 

“I used my chi to produce an intense light that blinded Zuko. It’s from one of my friends back home, but I’ll have to tell you more later on.” Goku replied distractedly, wanting to focus more on escaping than explaining at the moment. Aang brightens up in understanding and the two run across the control room, jumping over a navigation table. The captain of the ship looks up in shock as the two boys run onto the upper deck’s balcony in positive euphoria. 

“NIMBUS!” Goku shouted aloud as he reached the tower’s edge. His piercing voice bounced off the surrounding walls of ice in a reverberant echo, causing the Flying Nimbus to jet downward from the upper atmosphere upon its mention. It swooped in right next to Goku’s feet, giving the monkey-tailed teen a chance to jump aboard. 

“Aang, grab my hand!” Goku announced while levitating in mid-air on Nimbus, extending his arm out for the Avatar to reach. While taking up a running start, Aang unleashed the wings of his glider and latched onto its bottom in flight. Just as his and Goku’s hands were about to meet, Zuko unexpectantly lunged himself from the balcony and tightly gripped Aang’s boot in defiance. This forceful addition of weight caused Aang and Zuko to succumb to the effects of gravity, practically bouncing about on the steel floorboards of the ship’s lower deck.

“Oh man!” Goku screeched concernedly, taking a U-turn in the sky to try picking up Aang a second time. Zuko stood in another combat-oriented position, narrowing his eyes at the nerve-wracked airbender for intimidation purposes. However, all three’s differing courses of action were temporarily interrupted by a recognizable roar rumbling from above. 

“What is that?” Zuko wondered audibly in seething bewilderment. Aang and Goku peered up to where the groan originated, immediately identifying the distinguishable white fur of Appa and two blue-coated Eskimos riding on his back saddle. 

“Appa!” Goku and Aang yelled in ecstatic relief. Taking advantage of this distraction, Zuko firebent at the monk in an attempt to discombobulate him. Aang managed to spin around his glider as a deflector, but was sent backward towards the Fire Navy boat’s edge by accident. Zuko continuously rapid-fired the vulnerable Avatar in high speed succession, managing to knock Aang’s glider out of his hands after a few more failed twirls of air. His only chance at defense a few feet away, Aang flips, ducks, and jumps around to avoid the still relentless plumes of combustible heat. One jump elevated Aang a bit too high, resulting in the heels of his feet being hung dangerously against the ledge. 

“Ho! Hyaahhhhh!” Zuko roared with adrenaline-laced might, sending two huge fire blasts from his foot at the struggling airbender. Aang is unable to shield himself in time and helplessly falls off of the ship, seemingly knocked unconscious much to Sokka, Katara, and Goku’s horror. 

“Aang! No!” Katara cried in terror while tightly squeezing Appa’s reigns. Goku and Nimbus were too late to prevent Aang from falling in the water and could do nothing, but watch as the boy plummeted to the ocean’s lowest depths. 

“Aang! Aang! Aang!” Katara screamed repeatedly in order to wake up her airbending friend before he experienced a watery grave. The waterbender’s pleas were answered as Aang was awakened by the powerful combination of all past Avatars’ bending prowess: the Avatar State. His tattoos and narrowed glowed a faint white in response, unconsciously manipulating the water around him to submerge upward like an erupting volcano. Aang’s lower body was now surrounded by a towering twister of water, displaying the skill of an advanced waterbending master. Zuko could only gape at the prodigal technique in unbridled fright. 

“There it is again! Aang has what seems like hundreds of above average chis in one body. Maybe that’s why he can bend water all of a sudden.” Goku analyzed mentally in intrigue, recalling the time when Aang went into this so-called “transformation” at the Southern Air Temple. He couldn’t help, but feel pumped seeing the Avatar State in such close proximity, trying to anticipate what it would be capable of with his potential tutelage in chi manipulation. 

“I wonder if I could help Aang gain control of this form! It would be soooo awesome to fight him at full power!” Goku vividly imagined with a clenched fist of anticipation, going back to his old habits once more. At the same time, Avatar Aang landed safely on the ship’s deck, using the still present oceanic tornado to smack Zuko and three Fire Nation soldiers overboard. 

“Did you see what he just did?!” Katara gasped in amazement as she leaned over the side of Appa’s saddle. 

“Now that was some waterbending!” An impressed Sokka praised the usually goofy monk. After the vortex of water created by Aang dissolved into small puddles, said airbending Avatar’s tattoos reverted back to their original light blue and he weakly collapsed from exhaustion. Goku, tracking Aang’s plummeting energy, maneuvered Nimbus closer to Appa. 

“Guys, let’s help Aang!” Goku suggested with a point down to the stalled ship. Thankful that the martial artist was safe as well, the two Water Tribe siblings nod in agreement and securely land Appa on the deck. Katara and Sokka slide down from the saddle while Goku dismounts Nimbus close by, all three of them running to Aang’s aid. 

“Aang! Are you okay?” Katara exclaimed in a worried tone, placing Aang’s head on her lap for added comfort. The Avatar woke up to see the forms of all three of his friends. 

“Hey, Katara and Sokka. Hey, Goku. Thanks for coming.” Aang greeted exhaustively with squinted eyes. 

“Well, I couldn’t let you or Goku have all the glory.” Sokka jokingly remarked with a sly grin while raising his gloved hand at Goku. 

“I dropped my staff…” Aang groggily muttered, looking to where his glider landed. 

“Got it!” Sokka stated, eagerly rising up from his kneeling position. Sokka shuffled over to retrieve the glider, but was interrupted by Zuko latching onto its other end. Horrified, Sokka enters a short tug-of-war with the Fire Nation prince. He then gains full control of the weapon by poking at Zuko’s head three times, causing him to fall down and desperately hang from the ship’s anchor.

"Ha! That’s from the Water Tribe!” Sokka triumphantly congratulated himself, pleased with the fact that he was able to make up for his prior humiliation. Nearby, Katara helped Aang climb on top of Appa while Goku ushered Nimbus closer to the Sky Bison’s side. Three Fire Nation soldiers previously knocked out by Aang’s recent attack picked themselves up from the ground and began threateningly approaching the trio with spears. Placing her sights on the puddles along Appa’s feet, Katara concentratively bent a u-shaped stream of water. Attempting to whip the surprised men, the waterbending novice inadvertently shoots it into the opposite direction and encases a none-the-wiser Sokka’s feet in thick ice. 

“Katara!” Sokka whined irritably. Not wanting to repeat the same mistake, Katara turns her back to the three firebenders and casts a similarly long arc of water. This display of waterbending hits its intended target and completely freezes the armed combatants solid at the same time. Pleased with the results, Katara wastes no time and climbs aboard Appa’s saddle. 

“Hurry up, Sokka!” Katara urgently reprimanded the trapped Water Tribe boy. Annoyed, Sokka uses his boomerang like a pick-axe and hammers at the ice covering his boots. 

“I’m just a guy, with a boomerang. I didn’t ask for all this flying and magic!” Sokka mumbled to himself vexingly, chipping one foot at a time. After successfully shattering each fragment of frozen excess, Sokka hurriedly climbed along Appa’s tail as if it were a ramp. 

“Yip-yip! Yip-yip!” Sokka hyperactively ordered the fluffy creature as seated himself in the saddle. Appa listened to the boy’s orders without argument and floated away from the Fire Nation ship, closely followed by Goku navigating the Flying Nimbus. 

“Duh? Huh?” Iroh yawned obliviously, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes as he watched Appa and Nimbus dart by. Seeing his nephew struggling to climb on deck, the old firebender calmly makes his way over to help Zuko up. 

“Shoot them down!” Zuko angrily orders Iroh in an attempt to prevent his captives’ combined escape attempt from taking full effect. As Appa soared higher into the air, Iroh and Zuko synchronize their bending movements to form one gigantic propulsion of super-heated fire. Ganging on the four, Goku protectively sets himself between the upcoming attack and Appa’s tail. 

“Kame…” Goku uttered in a calm, trance-like state. As always, he cupped his hands together and placed them near the right pectoral area. A ball of white and blue chi sparked to life from his palms, leaving Katara and Sokka awe-inspired. 

“I-is that the…the…” Sokka stuttered frantically, looking for words to describe what was taking place before his very eyes. 

“Ha…Me…” Goku continued in a low growl, the chi sphere beginning to spin around with pillars of white jutting about. The approaching fire blast was inches away from striking the fleeing Sky Bison, ever so slightly growing in size and speed. 

“The beam of light Gran-Gran mentioned from before…” Katara whispered quietly, the Kamehameha’s shining exterior bouncing off of her light blue irises in wonderment. Zuko, Iroh, and the remaining members of his crew simply stood motionless, unable to grasp what was truly in store for them. 

“HA!” Goku bellowed maliciously, releasing the full Kamehameha in all of its devastating glory. An enormous blast of luminescent blue evaporated Zuko and Iroh’s composite fire blast as it was projected, stupefying the Fire Nation prince as Goku’s chi-enhanced attack drew closer. Aang, unnerved by the beam’s gaining speed and destructive nature, jumped from the front of Appa to get his friend’s attention.

“Stop, Goku! You’re going to blow up their ship!” Aang shouted nervously, not wanting to betray his pacifistic ways by letting anyone die. Goku, not fully realizing how much strength he was putting into this specific Kamehameha, glanced at the closest mountain of ice and came up with an alternative method of sidetracking Zuko. To the added disbelief of Katara, Sokka, and Aang, Goku lifted up his arms and perfectly bent the Kamehameha blast away from the ship’s deck! 

“He can “bend” chi?!” Zuko barked in unhindered dismay. Much to his continued misfortune, Goku’s redirected Kamehameha slammed into a snowy cliffside and sent an avalanche of ice crashing into the ship’s bow. With Zuko’s boat currently stuck in place, Goku uncups his hands and flies off into the horizon on Nimbus. Appa followed after the martial artist while Aang, Katara, and Sokka sniggered at the proud prince’s current predicament. 

“Good news for the Fire Lord. The Fire Nation’s greatest threats are just two little kids.” Iroh calmly exclaimed as Zuko slammed his fist on the ground in response to this most recent failure. 

“One of those “kids”, Uncle, just manipulated a blast of energy and did this with it.” Zuko fervently reminded in suppressed rage, gesturing to the gigantic pile of snow blocking their intended pathway. 

“I won’t underestimate him or the Avatar again.” Zuko noted with the utmost determination. 

“Dig the ship out and follow them!” Zuko aggressively demanded his crew of firebending soldiers, pointing at the residing glacial chasm. He then takes notice of the three men previously frozen by Katara being tended to through firebending means. 

“As soon as you’re done with that.” Zuko corrected himself in momentary embarrassment, turning his back to the six shipmates with closed eyes. He then glared up into the sky, waiting for his next chance at reclaiming the Avatar and chi-user. 

Appa slowly floats through a yellow-tinged sky, the sun beginning to set behind brown clouds of varying sizes. Goku sits cross-legged on Nimbus, moving above the left side of Appa’s saddle. 

“How did you do that?! With the water? It was the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen!” Katara praised in admiration of the Avatar State’s awesome power. Aang fidgeted in place on the front tip of his bison’s saddle, vividly recalling what Katara was talking about. 

“I don’t know. I just sort of…did it.” Aang blandly attempted to explain, looking more depressed by the damage he caused through sporadically waterbending than anything else. 

“Why didn’t you or Goku tell us you were the Avatar?” Katara seriously inquired, somewhat realizing the boy’s discomfort in this situation.

“Because…I never wanted to be.” Aang gloomily admitted, looking down at his feet in sadness. A moment of silence permeates throughout as Katara and Sokka digest this concerning information. Goku just peers at the monk in understanding with a cross of his forearms. 

“But, Aang, the world’s been waiting for the Avatar to return and finally put an end to this war.” Katara regrettably informed the still moody airbender. 

“And how am I going to do that?” Aang almost whimpered in uncertainty and frustration. 

“According to legend, you need to first master water, then earth, then fire, right?” Katara recalled from basic knowledge of all past avatars spread around the world. 

“That’s what the monks told me.” Aang confirmed hesitantly. 

“Don’t forget about chi. I’m here to teach him that.” Goku corrected abruptly, moving Nimbus in the middle of Katara and Aang. Sokka, sitting in the back, rose an eyebrow at this revelation while Katara’s mouth gaped slightly. 

“You mean Aang will learn how to shoot that giant beam from before?” Katara queried with a bit of uncertainty, trying to imagine Aang’s abilities mixed with Goku’s. Contrary to what he used to feel 100 years ago, Aang inaudibly gulps at this reminder. Due to the fact that the Kamehameha would have definitely destroyed Zuko and his crew without his intervention at the right moment, the peace-loving monk didn’t feel comfortable trying to produce that type of carnage. 

“Well, he’ll have to start with the basics first. But, after chi sensing and small energy projection, Aang might do it eventually. Even you and Sokka could!” Goku happily elaborated, barely holding in his excitement for the future. Sokka stroked his chin in deep thought, fondly picturing himself with the almost superhuman strength of Goku.

“So, it’s settled then! If we go to the North Pole, you can master waterbending while also being taught chi in the meantime.” Katara cheerfully pondered the general set up of their journey thus far. 

“We can learn it together!” Aang beamed in a much more optimistic mood than what it was before. 

“And Sokka, I’m sure you’ll get to knock some firebender heads on the way.” Katara addressed her older brother in further cheerfulness. 

“I’d like that. I’d reeally like that.” Sokka mused contentedly, still thinking of becoming a potential chi-user himself based on Goku’s confirmations. 

“Then all four of us are in this together.” Katara stated with the highest amount of hope and confidence. Before anything else could be agreed upon, Aang pulled out a scroll from within his orange tunic. 

“All right, but before I learn waterbending or chi manipulation, we have some serious business to attend to.” Aang announced gleefully as he airbent himself downward to sit on Appa’s saddle. He unrolled the scroll to reveal a map of the entire Avatar world, each continent reflecting the color of their respective elements. 

“Here, here and here.” Aang continued while pointing to two areas in the Earth Kingdom and one near the Southern Air Temple. 

“What’s there?” Katara curiously asked as she pointed at the map. Goku floated in place on Nimbus, trying to make heads or tails of this strange new world and how vastly different it looked from his own. 

“Here we’ll ride the hopping llamas. Then waaay over there, we’ll surf on the backs of giant koi fish. Then back here, we’ll ride the hog monkeys. They don’t like people riding them, but that’s what makes it fun!” Aang enthusiastically explained his extensive knowledge of all four nations’ more interesting accommodations. Sokka and Katara glanced at each for a second in wonder before setting their sights on the equally confused Goku. 

“So, Goku, is there any specific place on the map where you’re from?” Katara catechized in an attempt to know more about the martial artist’s life. Aang’s eyes widen slightly at the question, nervously concerned for his friend’s privacy. 

“What do you mean?” Goku blankly asked the two siblings.

“Well, you claimed you weren’t from the Fire Nation and you’re obviously not an airbender, so where were you born?” Sokka casually questioned with an interrogative cross of his arms. 

“Oh, yeah! The thing about that is…um…uh…I’m from another world!” Goku stammered anxiously, sporting a wide, nervous grin. Aang slightly giggled the same way while Katara and Sokka stood dumbstruck for a moment or two. 

“WHAT?!” The two Water Tribe siblings shouted in disbelief. In that moment, the sunlight shone down on Appa as he flew soothingly through the sky. Son Goku was now on the cusp of starting his next big adventure with new friends and enemies alike, wondering how long it would take to get back to his universe of origin.


	11. Phantom Pains

Exhausted from both narrowly escaping Fire Prince Zuko and a rigorous bombardment of questions solely centered around Goku’s “home world”, the four decided to call it a day and rest overnight. They settled Appa down on the shore of a small pond and each positioned themselves into their respective sleeping positions, Goku utilizing Nimbus as his own portable pillow like before. After a few hours of much-warranted shut eye, the morning sun rose above the clouds to cake said pond in a glistening sheen of gold, its water sparkling with excess light. As his Sky Bison munched on some grass for breakfast, Aang tightened each rope attached to both of Appa’s horns while Katara neatly folded her sleeping bag. Goku vicariously distracted himself with thoughts of well-cooked meals that he could be eating right now while Sokka loudly snored in uninterrupted slumber.

“Wait ‘till you see it Katara! The Air Temple is one of the most beautiful places in the world!” Aang reminisced fondly, unable to contain his overwhelming excitement. Katara glances at Aang’s buoyant face concernedly, fully aware of the airbenders’ regrettable fate during the 100 Year War’s humble beginnings.

“Aang, I know you’re excited, but it’s been a hundred years since you’ve been home.” Katara warned cautiously, wanting Aang to truly comprehend what a century long disappearance could entail.

“That’s why I’m so excited.” Aang beamed exuberantly, innocently missing the point of Katara’s uttered concerns.

“It’s just that…a lot can change in all that time.” Katara hesitantly elaborated in further uncertainty of the once prosperous Southern Air Temple’s current condition.

“I know, but I need to see it for myself.” Aang happily proclaimed as he airbent himself off of Appa’s neck. Goku walked up to the mammalian creature with Nimbus in toe and looked up to study Katara’s worrisome likeness.

“Your energy seems a bit sporadic all of a sudden. Do you know something about the temple that he doesn’t?” Goku figured suspiciously, his chi-usage granting him a basic knowledge of a person’s change in mood from one moment to the next. Katara sighed guiltily, peering towards Aang’s retreating form as he prepared to wake up Sokka from his most recent snooze.

“It’s what my grandmother said back in the village when I introduced you and Aang. She mentioned that all airbenders were rendered extinct a long time ago. If that’s true, I don’t even want to think of how Aang would react once we get to his home.” Katara whispered with immense sympathy, hoping for the best-case scenario above all else. Goku, wondering if the Fire Nation were indeed responsible for such a widespread slaughter, glowered at the ground angrily for a second before weakly grinning at the waterbending girl in encouraging comfort.

“We should do what Aang says and see for ourselves. I think losing hope won’t do us any good.” Goku suggested resolutely, jumping onto the Flying Nimbus as he perched himself near Appa’s saddle. Katara reciprocated the strained smile and went back to gathering her belongings. During this conversation, Aang, unable to budge the stubborn Sokka, sneers with mischievous intent and picks up a stick from the ground.

“Sokka! Wake up! There’s a prickle snake in your sleeping bag!” Aang yelled out in played up alarm, moving the stick up and down his sleeping back. Sokka lazily opens up one eye, taking a few moments for Aang’s startlement to sink in before spastically freaking out!

“Ahhh! Get it off! Get it off! Ahhh!” Sokka wailed disgustedly, hopping about in his sleeping bag. He jumps about two times before falling face first into the dirt due to a lack of proper leg and arm control. Sokka is not amused in the slightest, but Goku and Katara, on the other hand, merrily laugh at his expense.

“Great! You’re awake! Let’s go!” Aang jokingly proclaimed, not at all regretful for the extremes he resorted to. Sokka grumbled irritably to himself as he wormed his way out of the sleeping bag and boarded Appa’s saddle. With that, Aang, Goku, Katara, and Sokka traveled to the Southern Air Temple as initially planned.

* * *

Many, many hours later, Zuko managed to literally dig himself out of the jam Goku’s Kamehameha put his ship in and parked it at a Fire Nation harbor in close proximity to the South Pole. He and Uncle Iroh marched out of the boat’s deployed bow, surrounded by Fire Navy vessels much larger and imposing than theirs could ever be.

“Uncle, I want the repairs made as quickly as possible. I don’t want to stay too long and risk losing their trail.” Zuko impatiently ordered, his distracted mindscape moving a mile a minute in recollection of his previous encounter.

“You mean the Avatar and Goku?” Iroh questioned disinterestedly, going through the usual routine of brushing off his obsessed nephew’s ramblings.

“Don’t mention either of their names on these docks! Once word gets out that they’re alive, every firebender will be out looking for them, and I don’t want anyone getting in the way!” Zuko warned his uncle in a cautious whisper, swiftly spinning around to stare down at said old man.

“Getting in the way of what, Prince Zuko?” An imposing figure abruptly interjected, approaching the two with arms crossed behind his back. The man was noticeably middle-aged, sporting red and black armor indicative of all high-ranking Fire Navy officers. His most unique characteristic by far was the set of brown mutton chops that arched outward below the ears.

“Captain Zhao.” Zuko glowered in recognition, firmly crossing his arms as a sign of inner chagrin.

“It’s commander now.” Zhao corrected offhandedly, smugly smirking in acknowledgement of his own feats. He then turns to Iroh and bows as a supposed sign of respect.

“General Iroh. Always a pleasure to see such a great hero of our nation in the flesh.” Zhao greeted politely, revealing the extent of Iroh’s past accomplishments. Iron grins at the kind gesture and bows in kind.

“Retired general.” Iroh pointed out informingly, notifying Zhao of the fact that his military days were over.

“Well, regardless, you and the Fire Lord’s son are welcome here anytime. What brings you two to my harbor?” Zhao inquired curiously with a raise of his eyebrow.

“Our ship is need of repairs.” Uncle Iroh replied, gesturing to the torn pieces of metal scattered all around the aforementioned boat’s frontmost sides. Zhao analyzed the jagged indentations Iroh identified, squinting his eyes in amber eyes in surprise and momentary suspicion.

“That’s quite a bit of damage.” Zhao mused to himself in reactionary puzzlement. Zuko, not wanting Zhao to catch-wind of his recent encounter with the fearsome power of Goku and the Avatar, attempted to come up with a reasonable explanation as to where the wreckage originated from.

“Yes. We… um… crashed into an Earth Kingdom ship! Right, Uncle?” Zuko awkwardly accounted the origins of his wrecked ship, breaking eye contact with Zhao in discomfort. He then nudged Iroh in the side with his elbow, gesturing to the Fire Nation commander with an outstretched palm.

“Oh! Yes, yes. It was truly an incredible sight to behold.” Iroh enthusiastically played along with Zuko’s lie, coughing a few times to hide his disingenuity. Zhao furrowed his eyebrows, mentally noticing a few holes in the both Fire Nation royals’ excuse.

“Really?” Zhao gasped in highly exaggerated disbelief. “You must regale me with the thrilling details.” He sarcastically encouraged with a wry smile and narrowed eyes. The self-absorbed commander then arched his entire body forward, getting into Zuko’s personal space in an almost challenging manner.

“Join me for a drink?” Zhao asked openly, intimidatingly gazing into Zuko’s eyes with a sinister sneer etched on his grizzled face. The 16-year-old prince scoffed at this request for “hospitality”, diverting his attention away from the firebending militant.

“Sorry, but we have to go.” Zuko denied the offer, preparing to walk back to his heavily crippled ship. However, his attempt at storming off was put to a sudden halt by the sensation of Iroh’s hand being placed on his left shoulder.

“Prince Zuko, show Commander Zhao your respect.” Iroh lectured Zuko in visible disappointment. Zuko clenched his fists at this instruction, but ultimately followed it without argument.

“We would be honored to join you. Do you have any ginseng tea? It’s my favorite.” Iroh agreed to Zhao’s proposition, ignoring his nephew’s ongoing reluctance. As Azulon’s firstborn son followed Zhao into his own ship, Zuko huffed in frustration and begrudgingly stomped after them.

* * *

Goku, Aang, and the others were currently maneuvering through the skies of Patola Mountain in search of their planned destination. However, Goku, to his chagrin, was having some trouble navigating through the clouds alongside Appa due to the loud grumbles of his bottomless stomach.

“I know you’re excited to see the temple again, Aang, but couldn’t we have stopped for something to eat first? I’m staaarving…” Goku whined in hunger-laced frustration, his entire body flopping down on Nimbus’s fluffy surface. Sokka seemed to feel the same, clutching his own belly as it desperately cried out for any form of sustenance.

“I hear ya on that one, buddy. If only I still had that blubbered seal jerky from yesterday…” Sokka mumbled irritably to himself as he poured his empty bag to find nothing, but small crumbs.

“Oh about that… I kind used it start the campfire last night. My bad.” Aang apologized with an embarrassed grin. At the mention of this careless waste of food, both Goku and Sokka sighed heavily in dismay.

“But we were surrounded by trees…” Goku whimpered in disbelief, his voiced muffled by Nimbus’s cushioned exterior. Aang just gazed back at them sympathetically before recognizing the series of stone pillars residing in his line-of-sight. The energetic airbender immediately beamed in heightened anticipation, addressing Katara with sparkling gray eyes.

“We’re almost there, guys!” Aang delightedly informed as he tilted his head to the side. Katara, noticing how immensely optimistic Aang was, grasped the boy’s shoulder with a concerned expression.

“Aang, I realize this temple was your home, but you should be prepared for what you might see there. A lot can change in 100 years, especially knowing what the Fire Nation did to my people and what they could have done to yours.” Katara gravely warned the newest Avatar, head tilted downward in acknowledgement of her mother’s fate. Aang remained silent for a moment or two, trying to ponder the underlying truth within Katara’s words.

“We don’t know that for sure, Katara. Maybe some of the airbenders managed to escape somehow. I mean the Fire Nation wouldn’t have any way of reaching the temple without a flying bison anyways. Right?” Aang assumed in a hopeful tone, wanting to think of the best-case scenario until proven otherwise. Katara, not exactly convinced by Aang’s logic due the Fire Nation’s hyper-advanced technology, eased her grip on Aang’s shoulder and simply nodded.

“Ok, Aang. Just keep what I said in mind.” stated the young waterbender in reluctant agreement as she held onto Appa’s neck-fur once more. Aang, smiling appreciatively, turned over to Goku.

“Follow my lead and hang on tight, Goku. Yip yip!” Aang gave the monkey-tailed boy a heads up as he quickened Appa’s pace. Goku followed this instruction to a T by elevating Nimbus’s position in the sky and tapping his foot on said cloud about two times.

“Alright, Nimbus. Let’s go!” Goku happily ordered. The Flying Nimbus then jetted forward in a streak of grayish-white, trailing behind Appa’s rear as the Sky Bison launched himself along a nearby mountainside. After flying higher and higher, the four were finally face-to-face with the Southern Air Temple in all of its ancient majesty.

“There it is. The Southern Air Temple.” Aang mused contentedly, a wave of satisfaction practically surging throughout his entire body. Sokka could only gape at the temple’s massive size while Goku smiled widely in recognition.

“Wow! It seems a whole lot bigger from a distance.” Goku pointed out in shock, wondering if he even went through the entire facility while exploring with Aang.

“It’s… it’s amazing, Aang!” Katara commented with widened eyes, captivated by the Southern Air Temple’s beauty and intricate craftsmanship. Aang glanced downward at Appa, slightly stroking his fur as he admired the familiar visage of his one and only childhood home.

“We’re home, buddy. We’re home.” Aang hummed pleasurably, squinting his eyes in pure happiness. He then made preparations to land with Goku doing the same.

* * *

Shortly after their heated discussion, Commander Zhao led Iroh and Zuko into a large gray tent guarded by Fire Nation guards. Within this tent, Zhao stood in front of a large map of the entire world, four nations in all. His arms were crossed behind him in an almost calculated manner, exuding confidence and authoritarian superiority.

“By the year’s end, the Earth Kingdom capital, Ba Sing Se, will be under our rule. Then, as planned, the Fire Lord will claim victory in this war.” Zhao explained the Fire Nation’s complex battle strategy in great detail. Zuko was seated in an iron chair next to Zhao’s while Iroh, completely disinterested in what said smarmy commander had to say, was perusing some weapons hanging on the wall.

“If my father thinks the rest of the world will follow him willingly, then he is a fool!” Zuko angrily lambasted the Fire Lord’s ego-maniacal intentions. Zhao took a seat next to the irritated teen, smirking amusedly at his rebellious behavior.

“Willingly? Feh! The other nations won’t have a choice in the matter once the secret to full chi control is discovered. I assume you’ve heard of that old legend?” Zhao questioned curiously; his conniving smirk still prevalent as ever. Zuko, his eyes widening at the implied mention of Goku, nodded in response.

“Yeah, Son Goku.” Zuko grunted, his teeth clenching just thinking about the monkey-tailed martial artist. He then shook his head negatively, falsely denying Zhao’s implications.

“Legends are legends though. It’s childish to think such power is humanly possible.” Zuko spat doubtfully. Zhao, taking note of Zuko’s altered body language, furthered proceeded onward with the conversation.

“Ah, but that’s where you would be wrong, Prince Zuko. Some of the more talented Fire Nation soldiers have managed to manipulate their life energy in a very similar manner. A few examples that come to mind are General Shinu’s Yuyan Archers and, of course, Siwang Zhihuo.” Zhao corrected Zuko’s assumptions, naming off multiple benders and non-benders who were able to successfully weaponize their own chi. However, the name of the last individual produced a sense of ire and dread in the 16-year-old that he couldn’t recall even having.

“T-the Fire of Death?” Zuko whispered in unease, only hearing of this mysterious individual from word-of-mouth when he was younger.

“Hmmm I’ve heard of him. I believe he was part of my father’s supposed Chi Force before that whole “experiment” fell through.” Iroh vaguely recalled, stroking his beard in deep remembrance of the past.

“Yes, you’re correct. No one has seen him in years, but it is highly speculated he concocted his own search for the Avatar and Son Goku, if either of them are both still alive, around the time Ozai came to power. Speaking of which…” Zhao trailed off, staring at Zuko with narrowed eyes.

“How is your search for those two going?” Zhao asked in faux interest. Zuko instinctively turned his head away from Zhao, attempting to hide his nervousness.

“We haven’t found them, yet. Besides, the Avatar is all the Fire Nation requires. Would finding Son Goku really do any good?” Zuko aggressively replied, continuing to hide the greater details of his latest encounter.

“Please. Goku and the Avatar were reported to have disappeared at the same time. Meaning, they experienced the same fate a hundred years ago, whether that be dead or alive.” Zhao scowled at Zuko’s assumption that Goku didn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. He stepped closer to Zuko, glaring at him with narrowed amber eyes.

“While the Avatar is the only thing stopping the Fire Nation from winning this war, Son Goku is the key to a guaranteed victory. With him around, an entire army of chi-users can be acclimated from his raw power alone! So, for the sake of your loyalty to the Fire Nation’s cause, you will tell me what you found!” Zhao snarled at the petulant heir, his calm composure beginning to crumble. Iroh frowned at this admittedly insane prospect while Zuko stood his ground, not at all threatened by Zhao’s demands.

“I haven’t found anything! It’s likely that the Avatar and Goku probably died a long time ago. Come on, Uncle, we’re leaving.” Zuko refused defiantly, marching towards the tent’s exit at a quickened pace. Unfortunately, Zuko’s forward momentum was put to a sudden halt by the intersected spears of two guards.

“Commander Zhao, we interrogated the crew as you instructed. They confirmed Prince Zuko had both the Avatar and Son Goku in his custody, but let them escape.” A third guard told his commanding officer. Immensely pleased by this news, Zhao connivingly sneered at Zuko and approached him from behind.

“Now remind me, how, exactly, was your ship damaged?” Zhao evilly inquired in Zuko’s ear.

* * *

After Appa landed and the Flying Nimbus flew away, Aang eagerly sprinted towards the Southern Air Temple. Goku, Sokka, and Katara struggled to catch up with the joyful 12-year-old, the latter two still suffering from unsatisfied appetites.

“You think there will be something to eat here?” Sokka whispered over to Goku, still clutching his empty stomach with both mittens. Katara deadpanned at the two, gesturing to the entire area around them in disbelief.

“Can’t you two think of something else besides food? We’re probably the first outsiders to visit an airbender temple in decades!” Katara stated disappointedly, unable to comprehend why Goku wasn’t thinking the same way. Goku scratched his head sheepishly, his face contorted into one of confusion and strained focus.

“I realize that, Katara, but my body can’t seem to function properly without food. I think I might pass out soon…” Goku moaned exhaustively, rubbing his tired eyes with a balled fist. Sokka patted Goku on the back sympathetically, his own eyes narrowed in desperation.

“We’ll get through this, my alien friend. We’ll get through this.” Sokka soothed determinedly with a raised fist. Katara just rolled her eyes and sighed in frustration.

“You two are impossible…” Katara grunted, shaking her head in disapproval as she walked onward. The three rendezvoused with Aang near a small cliffside, watching him point out various locations in the Southern Air Temple.

“So that’s where my friends and I would play airball, and over there is where the bison would sleep, and…” Before anything else could be said, Aang slumped his shoulders in deep sadness and despondency. His mood seemed to take a drastic 180, momentarily startling his three friends.

“What’s wrong?” Katara asked concernedly.

“This place used to be full of monks and lemurs and bison. Now there’s just a bunch of weeds.” Aang uttered miserably, his eyes transfixed on a collection of dead trees void of any plant life.

“I can’t believe how much things have changed.” Aang sadly whispered, his once elated eyes half-lidded in growing melancholy. Goku, seeing his friend in such a moody state, decided to take part in an airbending pastime he didn’t have enough time to experience 100 years ago.

“So, uh, Aang. You never told me about airball before. Would you mind teaching me how to play?” Goku kindly asked, wanting to maintain Aang’s positive attitude for as long as possible. At the prospect of playing one of his favorite hobbies, Aang cheered up immediately and smiled at him.

“Sure! Let’s go!” Aang cheered brightly, jumping from the cliffside to an arena filled with multiple wooden poles. Each side of the court sported square-shaped goalposts that were painted a light green. Pressed against one of these poles was a yellow sphere filled with holes reminiscent of a common wiffleball, but comparatively much bigger in size. Goku marveled at the detailed craftsmanship of this stadium, moving his head from left to right in child-like wonder.

“Ok, Goku! Airball is a pretty simple game once you get the hang of it.” Aang lectured Goku whilst picking up the titular airball. He then utilized airbending to balance himself on top of a wooden pole in front of the righthand goalpost.

“I’ll stand in front of one goal and then you’ll stand near the other. Then all of you have to do is…” Aang projected a stream of condensed air into the ball, causing it to rapidly spin around. With this in mind, Aang threw the hollow ball and kicked it in a large shockwave of wind. The airball ricocheted from one pole to another, picking up more and more speed as it shot straight through the other goal.

“Shoot it into the opposing player’s goal a few times and you win!” Aang chirped excitedly, giving Goku an appreciative thumbs up. Sokka and Katara stood on the sidelines, preparing to observe Goku and Aang’s short match.

“Huh I guess that’s simple enough. Kinda sounds like that soccer thing Bulma told me about…” Goku pondered interestedly, thinking back to the extensive list of sports that were quite popular in his dimension.

“Soccer?” Aang asked obliviously, tilting his head to the side to emphasize his cluelessness. Goku leaped onto his own pole, brushing aside Aang’s simplistic inquiry.

“Nothing important. Let’s just play.” Goku suggested challengingly, slamming a fist into his open palm. Aang smirked the same way, projecting a small funnel of air to bring the ball back into his hands. Now, with their game already in progress, Aang threw the ball upward and hit it towards Goku’s side.

“Try to block this one, Goku!” Aang shouted in sheer determination. The ball speedily bounced from one stake to another, zigzagging closer and closer to its intended target. However, with the aid of his chi-enhanced senses, Goku practically viewed the surrounding area in slow motion. He anticipated the direction from which the ball was traveling and kicked it back! However, he unintentionally put way too much force into the impact and sent it rocketing towards the distant horizon. The ball was nowhere to be seen from that point onward.

“Hehe whoops.” Goku giggled in reactionary embarrassment, feeling a bit bad that the game had to end so abruptly because of him. Aang observed the area where the airball fell, a trail of sweat streaking down his forehead.

“I’m starting to think that Sokka would have been a better opponent.” Aang thought inwardly with some regret, his eye twitching at the fact that one of the last remaining airballs was gone for good. He then regained his composure, assuring Goku that everything was fine.

“That’s alright, Goku! At least you know how to play it now, right?” Aang mentioned, focusing on the bright side of this completely avoidable situation. Goku, glad that Aang wasn’t upset, lightly grinned and leaped off of the wooden pole he was previously standing on.

“Welp that didn’t last long…” Sokka grumbled to Katara, wondering why he expected any other result with Goku being involved. Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, Sokka spotted a recognizable object that instantly sent shivers down his spine. Covered in a pile of snow was the tattered, cracked remains of a Fire Nation helmet. Based on how dusty and worn out it appeared to be, the Southern Water Tribe boy assumed that it was one of the older models.

“Katara, Goku, check this out…” Sokka called out to his younger sister and the newly approaching Goku. Goku’s mood swiftly darkened at the immediate sight of this helm, his concern for Aang’s personal well-being back in full swing.

“Fire Nation.” Katara darkly recognized.

“Should we tell him?” Goku questioned, his peripheral vision spotting Aang as he sprinted towards them.

“We have to. Hiding the truth won’t make things any easier for him.” Sokka answered truthfully. Katara, on the otherhand, was a bit more indecisive in regards to Aang’s feelings and waterbent a pile of snow on top of the helmet… and Sokka. Goku blinked a few times at this action, admittedly not expecting her to do that.

“Whatcha guys doing?” Aang questioned the three as he stood in front of them. Sokka was busy wiping the fallen clumps of snow off his face while Katara and Goku were trying to come up with a proper explanation for this odd predicament.

“Uh… I was just showing Goku a new waterbending trick I learned.” Katara described with uncertainty. She darted her eyes in Goku’s direction, silently pleading with him to play along with her story.  
“Erm… yeah! You should have seen it, Aang! She knocked Sokka straight into the snow!” Goku complimented with his usually infectious chortle. Sokka, very displeased with Katara’s overprotective behavior, got up and begrudgingly nodded with furrowed eyebrows.

“Really? Hehehe that must have been funny. But enough practicing, we have a whole temple to see!” Aang reminded them with a buoyant laugh, jogging towards another part of the Southern Air Temple as instructed. Once Aang left, Sokka and Goku both stared at Katara in confusion.

“You can’t protect him forever, Katara.” Sokka coldly lectured the waterbending novice with crossed arms. Katara sighed regretfully, looking down at the ground as she followed after Aang.

“I’m only doing it for Aang’s sake. If he finds out the Fire Nation invaded his home, he’ll be devastated.” Katara remarked in growing sadness. The three managed to follow a trail leading to the temple’s main courtyard, still catching up with the giddy monk.

“I know you mean well, Katara, but pretending that those firebending jerks never came here isn’t right. They did and the results are plain to see.” Goku advised with the cold hard truth in mind. While speaking, he gestured to the damaged remains of what used to be flourishing flora and vibrant architecture.

“Don’t you think I get that, Goku? It’s just… Aang is such a positive, happy kid most of the time. I couldn’t bear to see that happiness torn to shreds by the very people who murdered my mother in cold blood…” Katara whispered sorrowfully, her eyes starting to water in recollection of that dreaded day. Sokka and Goku both attempted to console the saddened waterbender, placing hands on each of her shoulders.

“Katara I…” Goku’s words were interrupted by the appearance of Aang. He was standing near a wooden statue of the very same airbending master who temporarily took Goku in during his arrival 100 years ago. Seeing Aang, Katara quickly wiped away her tears and put on a happy mask for the time being.  
“Bet you remember who this is, huh, Goku?” Aang asked gleefully, staring at his old caretaker with pure adoration. Goku nodded enthusiastically, placing himself next to Aang’s side to admire Gyatso’s memorial as well.

“Wow! I didn’t know Gyatso was so respected here!” Goku chuckled in shock, his respect for the elderly monk growing somewhat.

“Who’s Gyatso?” Sokka asked interestedly, stepping closer to the statue alongside Katara.

“Monk Gyatso was the greatest airbender in the world! He taught me everything I know and then some!” Aang praised his caretaker, remembering all of the good times they had together. Katara and Sokka looked up at the statue in wonder, curious to know what a fully-trained airbender was capable of.

“”Wow!”” Sokka and Katara simply commented in amazement.

“He’s also a great cook! That egg custard tart was delicious!” Goku chimed in, licking his lips in longing hunger once again.

“I’ll still never forgive you for eating the whole thing…” Aang grumbled in lighthearted bitterness. His expression notably became more downcast, bowing at the statue with a deep grimace.

“You must miss him.” Katara stated understandingly, placing a comforting hand on the monk’s shoulder.

“Yeah.” Aang murmured sadly, preparing to walk to another portion of the air temple.

“Let’s go to the air temple sanctuary next. There’s someone Gyatso told me I can meet there.” Aang suggested mid-step, trailing on ahead as per usual. While Katara and Sokka proceeded to follow, Goku stayed behind.

“You coming, Goku?” Sokka questioned, tilting his head back to inspect the porcupine-haired boy.

“Go on ahead, Sokka. I’ll catch up.” Goku told him with a nonchalant wave of his hand. Sokka then shrugged and walked away, leaving Goku alone with the statue of Monk Gyatso. The 15-year-old martial arts expert looked into the hollow, half-lidded pupils of Gyatso, identifying how knowledgeable and wise his gaze seemed even in a sculpted form such as this. For a split second, looking at Gyatso’s wrinkled face seemed to elicit thoughts of his own caring father-figure: Grandpa Gohan, the very man who taught Goku how to fight and fend for himself in the wilds of Mt. Paozu.

“You’ve grown so strong, Goku. I’m proud of you.” The projected image of Grandpa Gohan proudly proclaimed before fading away into Goku’s subconscious. Even after reuniting with him after Fortuneteller Baba’s tournament, Goku could only smile melancholically in remembrance of the person he cared for most of all. In a way, he knew exactly what Aang was going through.

“I miss you, Grandpa.” Goku whispered to himself, bowing forward as a sign of respect for the kindness both Gohan and Monk Gyatso were courteous enough to give him. Not wanting to waste too much time, Goku hurriedly sprinted to reunite with his three new friends.

“Oh there you are, Goku! What was the hold up?” Aang inquired concernedly with a raised eyebrow. He, Sokka, and Katara were standing in front of a massive doorway. A large tree coiled around the door’s topmost section, leftover roots ensnared within the temple’s walls and floorboards. In the center of this entrance was a convoluted system of brass pipes that intersected into two separate horns. These funnel-shaped modules were seemingly connected to three swirls that representing the iconic symbol for airbending as a whole.

“Just wanted to give my respects to Gyatso I guess.” Goku explained nonchalantly with his typical innocent expression.

“Well, hopefully we’ll be able to see him face-to-face once I get this door open.” Aang presumed with a grin, still under the impression that 100 years wouldn’t do much to affect the airbenders.

“Hopefully there’s a stack of fresh meat in there too…” Sokka greedily murmured, rubbing his hands together in anticipation. Katara gave him the stink eye, starting to lose a bit of her tolerance for his shenanigans.

“What? A guy’s gotta eat!” Sokka defended himself in a lowered voice.

“He’s not wrong.” Goku mumbled incoherently, looking away from Katara’s fairly irritated visage.

“Check this out, guys.” Aang called out, standing in a combat-oriented stance. He took a deep breath and projected two gusts of wind from his outstretched fingertips, aiming for both horns. Each airstream traveled through the pipes until all three airbending symbols were completely spun around 360 degrees, causing the door’s lock to click open. As if on autopilot, the wooden doorway creaked open until the airbending sanctuary was officially unveiled.

“Cool…” Goku whispered in awe, cautiously taking a step forward. Sokka and Katara did the same, practically tip-toeing to see where Aang would go to next.  
“Hello? Anyone home?” Aang asked in a slightly raised voice. He trudged into the darkness of the abandoned tomb while Goku, Sokka, and Katara treaded through parts unknown as well.

* * *

“So you’re telling me that Son Goku is alive and he was the one who blasted your ship? Tsk. You’re lucky to be alive.” Zhao scowled as he paced back and forth. Zuko and Iroh were currently being restrained by Zhao’s guards, unable to move without facing swift apprehension.

“I had both him and the Avatar in my custody! They will not get away a second time!” Zuko confidently pledged with a clench of his fist. Zhao laughed mockingly at the prince, glaring down at him as if were nothing but a mess he was forced to clean up.

“You honestly think you’ll be given a second chance after what happened?! From what my guards have told me, the chi-user’s blue beam would have blown your crew to smithereens if it weren’t for the sudden redirection of its path. Him and the Avatar are simply too powerful for a petulant teenager to handle.” Zhao fumed angrily at the 16-year-old firebender. Zuko put excess pressure on his armrests, smoke starting to sizzle from both hands.

“Commander Zhao, I’ve been hunting the Avatar for two years and I-“ Zuko’s pleas were a silenced by an arc of fire projected from Zhao’s fist.

“And you failed! The Avatar and Son Goku need an opponent that will actually put up a good fight against them, both physically and mentally. Someone with my credentials would do much better than a pathetic outcast denounced by his own father.” Zhao boldly insulted Zuko’s credibility as a competent threat. At the mention of his father, Zuko, in a blind rage, attempted to lash out against the commander, but was restrained by the two guards currently keeping watch over him.

“Don’t underestimate me, Zhao! You’re just afraid that I’ll be able to capture them before you!” Zuko seethed furiously, struggling to break out of the soldiers’ tight grips.

“Prince Zuko, that’s enough.” Iroh sternly lectured, attempting to sooth his nephew’s growing temper.

“Afraid? Of you? BAHAHAHA!” Zhao guffawed at Zuko’s attempt at challenging him.

“What’s there to be afraid of? I have hundreds of battleships under my command. What do you have? You’re just a banished prince with no home or allies to call your own. It’s no wonder your own father is ashamed of you.” Zhao glowered critically, tearing away at Zuko’s confidence and conviction with every word he spoke.

“You’re wrong! Delivering the Avatar and Goku will restore my rightful place on the throne! He’ll welcome me home with honor and pride once they are in my grasp!” Zuko remarked defiantly, arguing in favor of his own self-established purpose.

“Humor me for a moment, Prince Zuko. If the Fire Lord really wanted you home, he would have let you return from banishment by now regardless. But the truth is, in his eyes, you are a blatant failure and a disgrace to the Fire Nation.” Zhao spat disgustedly; his amber eyes narrowed with intensified hatred.

“That’s not true.” Zuko profusely denied Zhao’s harsh words, his slanted eyes practically burning into the commander’s own.

“You have the scar to prove it.” Zhao stated with little care. Having enough of Zhao’s cockiness, Zuko wretched himself free from the two guards and got up in his face.

“Grrrgh! Maybe you’d like one to match!” Zuko roared in pure infuriation, his teeth grinding back and forth.

“Is that a challenge?” Zhao almost chuckled, amused by the negative effect his words had on the boy.

“An Agni Kai. At sunset.” Zuko challenged openly with a raise of his fist. Zhao, deciding to play around, raised his hands up in mock surrender.

“Very well. We’ll begin once I set up my search party. Feel free to prepare yourself, but we all know this will end in your humiliation either way.” Zhao agreed to the proposed firebending duel, signaling for the two guards to follow his lead.

“Oh and by the way…” Zhao mentioned offhandedly, turning towards Iroh and Zuko with a sickly smirk. He raised up a single finger, yellow energy seemingly sparking to life at the tip. In a moment’s notice, the sparks combined to form a sphere of chi that was much smaller than anything Goku has previously produced. Zuko gasped at the sight of this power, Zhao’s chi ball lighting up the entire room.

“I’ve been doing my own preparations for Goku’s appearance…” Zhao cryptically revealed as he dissipated his chi demonstration and marched out of the tent. Zuko slumped down into his seat, taking a few moments to comprehend what he just witnessed.

“Prince Zuko, have you forgotten what happened last time you dueled a master?” Iroh questioned worryingly, concerned for the safety of his only nephew after what happened two years prior. Zuko’s expression slowly darkened, his identifiable scar illuminated by the tent’s candlelight.

“I will never forget.” Zuko replied angrily, the prince’s prior hesitation overshadowed by an ever-present interest in reclaiming his lost honor.

* * *

The sanctuary Aang, Goku, and the two Southern Water Tribe siblings entered was much stranger and ominous than they initially anticipated. All it contained was hundreds upon hundreds of statues each varying in terms of gender, attire, and overall nationality. One of the more strange aspects of these sculptures was the fact that they seemed to be organized in a specific manner.

“Who are all these people?” Katara wondered aloud, particularly intrigued by the ancient, slightly outdated designs of their clothing.

“I’m not sure. But it feels like I know them somehow.” Aang commented puzzlingly, a bit weirded out by the fact that he could instantly recognize some of the statue’s faces from memory. He then turned his attention to a middle-aged monk with a Fu Manchu moustache.

“Look! That one’s an airbender.” Aang pointed out in surprise. Katara then noticed the person next to him was wearing a wolf-like headdress and coat akin Southern Water Tribe males.

“And that one’s a waterbender. They’re lined up in a pattern: air, water, earth, and fire.” Katara recognized all of a sudden, moving along to identify the other two benders residing in that row.

“That’s the Avatar Cycle.” Aang acknowledged based on information shared to him before he was frozen.

“Of course. They’re Avatars. All of these people are your past lives, Aang.” remarked an awe-struck Katara as she observed the entire complex from top-to-bottom.

“Wow! There are so many!” Aang shouted in amazement, impressed by the scope of this entire facility. Goku, also admiring Aang’s expansive lineage as the Avatar, inadvertently stumbled into the statue of Avatar Roku.

“Past lives? You really believe in that stuff?” Sokka sniffed skeptically, his arms folded over the other in doubt.

“Hey! I know him!” Goku yelled in recognition, pointing to Roku’s bearded face for further emphasis.

“”“Huh?””” The other three gaped in unified confusion, walking over to view the statue Goku was pointing to.

“You saw one of the previous Avatars?” Katara gasped in wonder, her interest in the otherworldly traveler ever so slightly increasing.

“Yeah. He called himself Avatar Roku and he was the one who sent me to this world.” Goku recalled his main objective as an instructor for Aang. Aang, vaguely remembering the time he eavesdropped on Goku’s meeting with the Council of Elders, snapped his fingers in confirmation.

“Oh yeah! He wanted you to teach me chi, right?” Aang asked in slight hesitance, still on the fence as to whether or not he should even use something as life-threatening as the Kamehameha or any other chi blast.

“I think so. There might have been another reason he didn’t tell me, but I’m not entirely sure.” Goku guessed unsurely, scratching his head to gather the more complicated details of that discussion.

“Just when I think you couldn’t get any weirder, you start talking with an older version of Aang.” Sokka grumbled in irritation, jerking a thumb at said arrow-tattooed monk.

“He had me fly on his dragon too.” Goku added on, mentioning Fang’s presence at the last second. Sokka’s eyes immediately inflated to the size of saucers at this impossible occurrence.

“You flew on a-“ Sokka’s shocked rant was immediately interrupted by the chittering noise of a strange animal. The four turned around to spot a white lemur with green eyes and a brown face. It had long, floppy ears and a striped tail that coiled around its body like that of a monkey’s. Said lemur tilted its head to the side in animalistic curiosity, not sure what to make of the four teens standing before it.

“Isn’t that one of those winged lemurs you told me about?” Goku identified with interest, his own head tilt mirroring the lemur’s similar movements.

“Yeah. I always wanted one as a pet. Better late than never, I suppose.” Aang answered anxiously, taking a few steps closer to the air temple native. Sokka, however, was salivating from the mouth, his hunger starting to mess with his senses.

“Whatever it is, I’m definitely going to be eating it for dinner tonight.” Sokka proclaimed eagerly, slowly pulling out his club in preparation to pounce.

“It’s okay, little guy. I’m not going to hurt you.” Aang cooed soothingly, outstretching his arms as the lemur blinked a few times.

“Yeah, it won’t hurt being in my stomach!” Sokka yelled threateningly, charging the primate with his weapon raised skyward. At the sight of both kids chasing after him, the lemur’s back fur puffed up and it hissed in fear. It then hopped out of the sanctuary, moving further away from the monk and warrior-in-training.

“Wait come back!” Aang shouted concernedly, using airbending to give him a significant speed boost.

“I want to eat yo-Gyak!” Sokka’s desperate pleading was cut off by the abrupt halt of his forward momentum. He looked to see Goku grabbing onto his hood, holding it tightly to make sure Sokka didn’t chase after the lemur any further than where he was.

“Killjoy.” Sokka pouted with slumped shoulders, reminded of the fact that Goku was both stronger and faster than any of them at the moment.

“We’ll eat something once we leave here. Believe me, I’m probably ten times more hungry than you are right now.” Goku giggled jokingly, releasing Sokka’s hood. Sokka just grunted in response, massaging his aching throat.

“I’m going to find Aang. Watch over Sokka for me.” Goku told Katara, taking advantage of his martial arts abilities to rocket out the door.

“Ok. We’ll be right there.” Katara bellowed in understanding, cupping her mouth with both hands to elevate the audibility of her voice. She then helped Sokka onto his feet and headed for the passageway as well.

“Y’know, I’m starting to hate when he does that…” Sokka grouched under his breath, referring to Goku’s tendency to move faster than what was once considered conceivable.

Aang was pursuing the lemur as it dived off of the sanctuary’s balcony, retracting two bat-like wings, so it could better navigate itself through the air. Aang did the same, but took advantage of his mastery over all airbending forms by skydiving from rock formation to rock formation at unparalleled speeds. The two then landed on a lower level of the Southern Air Temple, continuing their chase on foot once again. After failing to leapfrog on top of the lemur, Aang saw it crawl through the torn, shredded remains of an airbending tent.

“Come on out, little lemur! That hungry guy won’t bother you anymore.” Aang attempted to persuade the flying lemur into coming with him. He pushed aside two sets of purple drapes to witness… a very disturbing sight. Aang choked on his breath in absolute horror, spotting the skeletal remains of Fire Nation soldiers in their heavily dismembered suits of battle armor.

“Firebenders? They were here?” Aang whispered in shock. To the Avatar’s continual dismay, his gray eyes then spotted a more complete skeleton with the orange robes of an airbending master. It was lit by a stray beam of sunlight, highlighting the decayed corpse’s exposed ribs and hollow eyes. However, it was the wooden necklace wrapped around this skeleton that caused Aang to finally recognize its true identity.

“G-Gyatso.” Aang murmured sorrowfully, collapsing to his knees in sheer despair. He began to sob uncontrollably, tears trickling down his cheeks as he tried to cover them with both hands. He was unable to hear Goku’s footsteps as he walked into the tent.

“Aang, did you find the lemur? What’s…” Goku’s stopped talking at the sight of Gyatso’s brutalized body, his pupils shrunken in abject dread. His eyes darted from one of side of the tent to another, analyzing each piece of Fire Nation armor littered all across the room. His fists clenched increasingly with more pressure as stray bits of chi erupted all around his body.

“This… this is unforgivable. I won’t let Aang experience something like this ever again!” Goku promised himself in suppressed anger, struggling to keep his cool at the knowledge of Gyatso’s painful death. Knowing that this world didn’t have Dragon Balls to wish back anyone with, he needed to be certain that Aang would be in top condition for any fight he comes across. With the Fire Nation still around and stronger than ever, Goku knew that more massacres like this one had the potential to happen at any moment. He took a deep breath and gently grabbed onto Aang’s shoulder as he proceeded to cry.

“Aang, let’s go. It’ll be alright. I know what it’s-“ Goku was interrupted by the white glow of Aang’s eyes and arrow tattoos. Caught off guard by this sudden return of the Avatar State, Goku was blown away by a large dome of highspeed air.

“Graaagh!” Goku cried out, using his immense strength to keep himself in place. The dome encircled around Aang’s body expanded ever so gradually in size, metamorphosizing into a massive tornado as the airbending monk began to float in mid-air.

Sokka and Katara, just about to leave the sanctuary, were gob smacked to see the eyes of every past avatar glow a vibrant whitish-blue in mere seconds. This particularly startled Katara, her concern for Aang’s, and even Goku’s, safety at an all-time high.

“Aang! He must be in trouble!” Katara screamed to her brother, grabbing his hand and practically dragging him out of the sanctuary. As they made their way down the mountainside, both Southern Water Tribe inhabitants spotted a humongous funnel cloud getting bigger and bigger by the second. Horrified by this unfathomable display of power, they then set their sights on Goku as he struggled to maintain his balance.

“GOKU! What’s wrong with Aang?!” Katara shrieked loudly, the volume of her voice slightly regressed by the ailing tornado. Goku cringed, his spiky hair rapidly flowing in the wind.  
“He found out Gyatso was killed by the Fire Nation and it triggered the Avatar State!” Goku informed with some difficulty, maintaining his current position with chi. The entire tent was completely destroyed at this point, each skeleton gone without a trace in response to Aang’s depressive wrath.

“Oh no! We have to calm him down!” Katara gasped in shock, joining Goku as they both inched closer to Aang in his most devastating form.

“Do it before he blows us off the mountain!” Sokka cried out, hiding behind a stray piece of stone for safety purposes. As Goku and Katara trudged onward, the sphere surrounding Aang ascended higher into the sky.

* * *

As declared by Zuko, a Fire Nation arena was set up in the middle of Zhao’s harbor at sunset. The sky was an orangish yellow, matching the raging fire burning in both potential combatants. Both Zhao and Zuko were squatting down on opposite ends of the stadium, wearing ceremonial vests that unveiled their bare chests. The Fire Nation prince was being coached by Iroh, the latter of which reminding him of his training over the past few months.

“Remember your firebending basics, Prince Zuko. They are your greatest weapons.” Iroh wisely advised with a stern expression.

“I refuse to let him win.” Zuko determinedly proclaimed, stripping off his vest and getting into a combat stance. Zhao reciprocated this gesture, revealing the upper half of his own chest. However, to the temporary shock of Zuko, many portions of his chest were caked with old scorch marks and scratches sewed together with thread.

“Surprised? In order to unlock my chi’s full potential, I needed to reach the breaking point of my body, mind, and spirit. It wasn’t a pleasant experience, but the results completely outweigh any setback involved.” Zhao explained his intense training regimen with a challenging smirk.

“Torturing yourself won’t do anything to increase your chances of winning. I know that from experience.” Zuko growled with narrowed eyes, thinking back to his most recent losses on the battlefield.

“We’ll see. This will be over quickly anyway.” Zhao cockily sneered, outstretching both of arms in his own battle stance.

With both firebenders ready to duel, a Fire Nation guard rang a large gong to start the Agni Kai in proper fashion. Zhao and Zuko stared each other, waiting for one of them to make the first move. Zuko took advantage of this moment to shoot out a barrage of four fireballs, tentatively keeping his distance from the navy commander. Zhao managed to expertly evade the first two blasts before completely evaporating the last display of firebending with a powerful arm swipe. Refusing to give in, Zuko kicked at Zhao with a large, elongated arc of flame, an attack which Zhao slashed through using the superheated palms of his hands. The Fire Lord’s firstborn child then retaliated with the outward stretch of his leg, producing an extensive stream of fire. However, no matter how powerful this attack seemed to be, Zhao displayed his expertise as a commanding officer in the Fire Nation army by cleaving straight through the fire blast using both of his hands. He smirked evilly, already viewing this as one step closer to his inevitable victory.

“Basics, Zuko! Break his root!” Iroh cheered from the sidelines. Zhao just laughed at this sorry excuse for support, his final trump card finally being put in play.

“I think it’s time I finish this utter farce of a battle.” Zhao commented sinisterly, squatting his body lower and lower to the ground. His muscles then slightly expanded in mass, sweat converting into steam as an invisible energy surrounded the naval commander’s body. Zhao ground his teeth, releasing all of his pent-up frustration in the form of one single attack. Zuko, not wanting to waste any time, shot fireball after fireball at the commander as he seemingly “charged”. Unfortunately, each shot of fire dispersed into nothing after hitting Zhao’s body, almost as if there were a transparent shield protecting him from oncoming attacks.

“I don’t like the looks of this…” Iroh gravely murmured to himself, not particularly certain if Zhao discovered the true secrets to chi usage or not. Zuko was currently in a sticky situation, keeping himself on guard in case anything notably life-threatening took place.

“RAAAAH!” Zhao shouted powerfully, flexing both of his arms in a flash of blinding light. After Zuko, Iroh, and every other soldier in the arena covered their eyes for a second or two, they looked upon Zhao to see an orangish-yellow glow shining off of his pale skin. Even his eyes had an almost golden glint to them, a prospect which Zuko did not know what to make of.

“W-what is that?” Zuko questioned in slight unease. Zhao uttered no response and simply raised his two hands. One hand sported an orange flame common to all known firebenders, with a few notable exceptions, while the other possessed a yellow chi ball sparking with electricity of the same color.

“This is the power that will bring Son Goku to his knees!” Zhao confidently laughed with a devious leer. He then brought the chi ball and flame together, causing both to greatly expand in size. By the end of this forced combination, a spherical globe of gold comparable in appearance to that of the sun was firmly rested in Zhao’s hands.

“ **Light… of Fire!** ” Zhao chanted powerfully, releasing the concoction of pure chi and Zhao’s own fire. Like the Kamehameha, Zhao cupped his hands in the direction of Zuko, sending forth a golden chi blast comprised of dancing embers. Zuko was left in a state of panic, flashbacks of that fateful day dancing through his subconscious. As the combustible inferno prepared to engulf his entire form, Zuko could only close both eyes in deep focus.

“ZUKO!” Iroh cried out in concern, preparing to jump in and intervene. However, as Zhao’s blast grew close to consuming the boy, Zuko waved his hands around to project a triple-layered circle of fire in front of him.

“HRAAAAAH!” Zuko shouted aggressively, pushing his makeshift shield against Zhao’s Light of Fire. With some difficulty, Zuko successfully lightened the blow of this hybrid blast, but was still sent flying backward from the resulting shockwave. Due to Zuko’s retaliatory actions, The Light of Fire was then thrown out of balance, collapsing in on itself and exploding in the middle of the arena!

“What?! He blocked it?!” Zhao growled furiously, smacking into his side of the arena floor as well. After the Light of Fire’s sudden destruction, a prominent crater resided in between both Zhao and Zuko’s discombobulated bodies. Zhao, with some effort, helped himself off the ground and breathed heavily from exhaustion. He looked down at his blistered hands, noticing that tiny trickles of chi were still present.

“I still have enough power… ha… ha… to end this.” Zhao assured himself, clenching his steadily charging fist. In that moment, he sprinted forward to Zuko’s bruised body before the prince could fully recover.

“GRRRAAH!” Zhao screamed with slanted amber eyes, jumping next to Zuko’s body. He then prepared to shoot another chi-enhanced fire blast at Zuko’s face, not really caring if the banished prince was fatally wounded or not. As the fire drew closer to his one good eye, Zuko gained the upper hand by spinning his feet around in a breakdancing motion This surprise technique both extinguished Zhao’s firebending and literally knocked the commander off of his feet. With Zhao struggling to stand up, Zuko shared his own boastful smirk and slid waves of firebending at the commander’s bare feet. Starting to wobble backward, Zuko let loose two powerful fire kicks at Zhao that sent him rolling out of commission. Completely out of chi and strength to carry on, the fallen militant was cornered by Zuko in one final battle stance.

“Do it!” Zhao commanded in aggression, goading Zuko into finishing him off for good. Zuko, seriously considering the option, ultimately decided against murdering Zhao and shot some fire near the side of his head instead.

“That’s it? Your father raised a coward.” Zhao scowled with a disgusted grimace.

“That Light of Fire attack left you completely drained of power. Finishing you off wouldn’t make a difference. But the next time you try getting in my way, I won’t hold back.” Zuko warned irritably, commenting on the notable flaws of Zhao’s latest chi blast. Zhao, his eye twitching at his unwarranted humiliation in combat, attempted to shoot fire at Zuko’s back as the victorious prince walked away. However, just as Zuko stated, nothing but pellets of smoke seemed to come out. This failed sneak attack caught the attention of Iroh, the former general looking down upon Zhao in great disappointment.

“This is how the great Commander Zhao acts in defeat? Disgraceful. Even in exile, my nephew is more honorable than you.” Iroh casually insulted Zhao’s actions as a warrior. He then prepared to walk away with Zuko, but another thought came to mind.

“By the way, that “Light of Fire” was _nothing_ compared to Son Goku’s Kamehameha. If you feel that will stand any sort of chance against him, you are greatly mistaken.” Iroh warned cautiously, his expression darkening at the mention of Goku’s immense strength. With that, the firebending master and his nephew left to reunite with their ship and crew all in one, leaving Zhao alone to his own devices.

“Did you really mean that, Uncle?” Zuko softly whispered, sort of touched by Iroh’s kind words.

“Of course. Zhao will need a lot more than brute strength to handle Goku. Even you need some more training in that regard.” Iroh mused distractedly, giving his nephew helpful advice as to where he should go about improving in battle. Zuko’s face grew more serious, gazing upon the distant horizon in hopes for what tomorrow may bring.

“I know…” Zuko murmured to himself, his eyes narrowing into slants as they departed to their next intended destination.

* * *

Aang’s rampage was still progressing into greater levels of destruction, the white glow of his tattoos shining with great power. While Sokka and Katara held on for dear life near some stones, Goku used all the strength to trudge on forward.

“Aang! Listen to me, buddy! I know what it’s like to lose people you care about. Like Monk Gyatso was a father to you, I lost my grandpa, Gohan, the man who taught me how to fight and the closest thing I had to a dad! Even though they may be gone, they’ll always be able to live on in our memories!” Goku struggled to comfort Aang’s uncontrollable rage, thinking back to all of the people who previously died in his life.

“He’s right, Aang! Monk Gyatso and the airbenders may not be around any longer, but you can still have a family! Sokka, Goku, and I! We’re your family now!” Katara supported Goku’s points, using their newfound friendship as a crux for quelling the fearsome Avatar State. At the utterance of being part of a “family”, Aang’s terrible tornado slowly faded away as his body descended to the ground. No longer levitating, Aang’s eyes and tattoos regressed their initial light blue coloring.

“I won’t let anything happen to you, Aang. All three of us won’t. That’s a promise.” Goku assured Aang in a comforting tone, holding up a thumbs up while his brown tail swished about. Aang simply nodded, collapsing into Katara’s arms from grogginess and derailed stamina.

“I’m sorry…” Aang apologized in a sad sigh.

“It’s okay. It wasn’t your fault.” Katara stated truthfully, referring to Aang’s lack of control over the Avatar State’s appearance.

“But you were right. And if the firebenders found this temple, that means they found the others other ones, too. I really am the last airbender.” Aang miserably accepted his current condition, burrowing his face into Katara’s chest whilst closing both eyes. Katara, unable to say anything else, just hugged Aang a bit tighter while Goku and Sokka placed their hands on his shoulders.

After a few minutes of comfort, the four reunited with Appa and Nimbus, and packed their belongings. However, before they could leave, Aang decided to take one last trip to the air temple sanctuary. He gazed at Avatar Roku’s statue, wondering what his past life could do to help him during times of need.

“So how did Roku find out about you, anyway?” Aang figured to ask, still puzzled by Goku’s role in the grand scheme of things. The monkey-tailed boy shrugged, feeling just as lost as his airbending friend.

“Beats me. All he told me was that teaching you chi would be important in your development as the Avatar.” Goku explained in similar amounts of confusion. Aang just sighed, initially hoping for a more straight-forward answer.

“Guess we’ll have to look for him together then.” Aang chuckled with a resigned sigh.

“You guys ready to go?” Katara asked out of the blue. However, before the four could leave, a familiar winged lemur reared its adorable head from the sanctuary’s entryway. It hops over to Sokka and drops a large variety of fruits before climbing on Aang’s shoulder. Sokka, not wasting anytime, chows down on the large collection of juicy delicacies.

“You better share those!” Goku dangerously glared at Sokka, slobber trickling down his chin in wanton desire. Seeing this is as a threat, Sokka slid the fruit pile behind his back. “No way! Get your own, Monkey Boy!” Sokka spoke with his mouth full, chomping down on each melon in quick succession. Like a rabid feline, Goku’s tail flared up and he pounced onto the Water Tribe male, eliciting a comical fight for dominance.

“Hahahahaha!” Katara and Aang both giggled at the two’s antics. The lemur curled itself around Aang’s head, not entirely sure what was taking place.

After, reluctantly, agreeing to share the rations, Goku, Sokka, Katara, and Aang both left the Southern Air Temple with their newest traveling companion in toe. After saddling up Appa, Aang stood next to his trusty Sky Bison to admire their childhood home from a distance.

“You, me, and Appa; we’re all that’s left of this place. We have to stick together.” Aang promised his new lemur, striving to keep the airbending legacy alive as long as he was still around.

“Katara, Sokka, Goku, say hello to the newest member of our family.” Aang gleefully introduced, holding the aforementioned lemur on his arm. Goku and Sokka were busy wolfing down on peaches, said martial artist going at an admittedly much quicker pace.

“What are you going to name him?” Katara asked curiously. Suddenly, the flying lemur jumped off of Aang’s arm and swiped a peach from Sokka without him even noticing.

“Momo.” Aang simply replied.

“Why couldn’t he take one of Goku’s?” Sokka whimpered resentfully, gesturing to the large pile of food stacked on top of Goku’s arms. Katara and Aang looked at each other for a moment before laughing out loud.

“Hehehehe!” Everyone gradually laughed in unison except for the irritated Sokka. Afterwards, Goku hopped on top of the Flying Nimbus while Aang, Sokka, Katara, and the newly named Momo boarded Appa. They collectively sailed across the purple clouds, leaving the Southern Air Temple behind as they moved onto their next destination. Aang and Momo could only gaze longingly at the abandoned complex, recalling what once was with forlorn expressions. Goku, sitting Indian Style on Nimbus, could only look upon the once lively sanctum with bitterness and regret as well. In a world without Dragon Balls, the Southern Air Temple was truly a phantom of an era that has long since been forgotten.


	12. Training Days

After departing from the Southern Air Temple on a fairly bittersweet note, the group, Appa, and their new animal companion, Momo, decided to take a short break before moving onto their next destination. They landed on the shores of the Earth Kingdom and set up a makeshift camp for the time being, making certain they were near some valuable resources beforehand. This small strip of land was positioned near a small crevice of towering mountain ranges that connected what was once Air Nomad territory to its neighboring nation. Currently, everyone was keeping themselves busy until either something interesting occurred or if a Fire Navy ship (most likely Zuko’s) surprisingly managed to track them down. As Appa took a well-deserved rest, Goku focused his chi via meditating while Katara and Aang were positioned along the nearby shoreline preparing to go through some mutual waterbending practice. Sokka, on the other hand, was sitting on atop a small boulder in utter boredom.

“Great. Even after a few hours of flying, I still don’t have any meat.” Sokka sighed in frustration as he carelessly rested a fist on his right cheek. He slanted his eyes and glanced at the curious flying lemur sitting next to him. Momo tilted his head to the side and blinked a few times in confusion. 

“Don’t look at me like that, Momo. That whole wanting-to-eat-you-thing was only a joke and you know it.” Sokka scoffed at Momo, pointing his finger extremely close to said lemur’s nose. The lemur simply twitched his ears, chattering in response to Sokka’s visible irritation. Getting the feeling that Momo didn’t understand a word he just said, Sokka lightly smacked himself in the face. 

“Snap out of it, Sokka! Talking to animals? Tsk. I think the boredom’s starting to mess with my head…” Sokka chastised himself in growing anxiousness. He massaged his forehead and then darted both eyes from left to right in search of anything he possibly could do to pass the time. The tribal teen first decided to eavesdrop… erm, observe Katara and Aang’s conversation. 

“Are you sure about this, Aang? I’m still a bit rusty when it comes to waterbending myself.” Katara hesitantly asked, looking upon the flowing water in minor discomfort. Due to the climate being much warmer than it was back home, she took off her coat and sported a blue undershirt with sleeves. 

“Of course, Katara! It’s going to take awhile before we reach the North Pole, so we might as well get some practice in. Plus, I don’t know the first thing about how to waterbend, so I wouldn’t want anyone else to be my first teacher.” Aang enthusiastically exclaimed with a wide, toothy grin. Touched by the monk’s kind words, Katara smiled appreciatively in a much more confident mood. 

“Thanks, Aang. That’s really sweet of you to say.” Katara beamed happily with closed eyelids. At the sight of Katara’s joyful expression, a faint twinge of red stained Aang’s face. He, however, coughed a few times before she could notice anything at all.

“N-No Problem! Ahem… so, uh, how do we start anyway?” Aang figured to ask, squatting downward to get a closer look at the ocean’s flowing waves. Katara motioned for Aang stand back up and pointed towards the steady movement of each current. 

“Well, that all depends on your skill I guess. Without a proper teacher to learn from, it took me around two months to perfect the basic techniques.” Katara unsurely informed, estimating the approximate time based on her own experiences. Aang’s eyes considerably widened at this information. 

“Wow, really? I didn’t think waterbending could be so difficult.” Aang lightly gasped in surprise. Katara took a deep breath and placed her hand on the young Avatar’s shoulder. 

“There’s no need to be discouraged, Aang. For this first move, all you have to do is move your hands in tandem with the water’s flow. Just keep pushing and pulling like this until…” Katara calmly demonstrated as she moved her body in a constant back and forth motion. She then used her hands to push the water forward, creating a small wave that dissipated after a few seconds of propulsion. 

“You project a wave through waterbending. Simple as that.” Katara proudly finished her instructions, wiping a bead of sweat off of her forehead.

“Alright. Let me try this time!” Aang excitedly cried, adjusting his body into the proper stance. Having just about enough of being ignored, Sokka furrowed his eyebrows and cleared his throat. 

“As much as it fascinates me to see you two splashing around in the water together, what the heck am I supposed to do?! There’s nothing to do here and thanks to Goku over there, nothing to eat either!” Sokka shouted sarcastically, gesturing to Goku and the entire island in pleading outrage. Katara crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow with the utmost disinterest in Sokka’s little rant. 

“I don’t know, Sokka. Maybe instead of complaining like a whiny little kid, you could do something useful for a change and train like the rest of us?” Katara mockingly retorted, placing both hands on her hips as she did so. 

“What do you expect, Katara? I’m the only normal guy here amongst two magical benders and a superhuman monkey boy from another dimension. There’s not much for me to be compared with on an equal playing field.” Sokka frustratedly grumbled, pulling out his trusty boomerang to show what he was limited to on the battlefield. Taking note of Sokka’s hidden insecurities, Aang neutrally gazed at the Southern Water Tribe native in understanding.

“I get that, Sokka, but your sister does have a point. We’ll need to prepare ourselves for another attack by Zuko or any other Fire Nation soldier that crosses our path. Just look at Goku. He’s probably the strongest one here, yet he’s still keeping himself focused on the task at hand.” Aang attempted to remedy Sokka’s anger and boredom by reminding him of the shared purpose their journey was created from. He then pointed his finger to Goku who was sitting cross-legged in deep concentration. His black eyes were closed and both of his hands were firmly rested against one another in a calm gesture reminiscent of prayer. 

“By doing what? Sleeping?” Sokka deadpanned at Goku’s seemingly lifeless form. Katara facepalmed at her brother’s most recent display of thick-headedness. 

“No, you blockhead! He’s obviously meditating to keep his chi in control.” Katara angrily fumed with shrunken blue pupils. Sokka squinted his eyes in sheer doubt, unable to see any traces of chi originating from Goku’s meditative body. 

“How do you know for sure? He’s been in that same position since we got first got here. No one, especially a kid as goofy and energetic as Goku, could stay in that position for hours without losing concentration.” Sokka matter-of-factly denied the validity of Goku’s “training” session. Katara turned around to observe Goku from afar with a more serious expression. 

“For you? Without question. For Goku? It’s really difficult to say. Other than his personality, power, and basic reason for being here, there’s so much more we don’t know about him yet. Aang is sort of similar in that aspect.” Katara truthfully mentioned the utter mystery that was Goku’s world and past. In a way, Aang and Goku were both outsiders to a world that they had no sort of familiarity with. While Goku might as well be considered an alien to each of the four nations, Aang was the Avatar most people thought died over a century ago. 

“Can’t argue with that. Being the Avatar sure is complicated.” Aang comically agreed, scratching his head just thinking of the extensive past being an Avatar entailed. Katara lightly pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed heavily. 

“Look, Sokka. If you’re so curious to know what Goku is up to, why don’t you ask him yourself? Goku did say that anyone, regardless of strength, has the potential ability to learn chi and perform the moves he displayed earlier, so you should be no different.” Katara helpfully suggested in reference to Goku’s prior description of chi and its typical functionality. Sokka was about to say something else, but began to think of the idea Katara proposed instead. 

“Hmmm me using that Kamehameha thing?” Sokka wondered, placing a hand on his chin in deep thought. He began to picture himself charging up a hypothetical Kamehameha and using that same attack to annihilate an extensive battalion of over one thousand Fire Navy ships. Each boat spontaneously combusted into smithereens, torn shrapnel flying in all directions as makeshift fireworks. In this daydream, Sokka was also extremely muscular and rode on top a much larger version of Goku’s Flying Nimbus. Surrounding him were over a dozen beautiful women all fawning over his god-like appearance, each one desperately fighting with one another for his attention. The Fire Nation soldiers also bowed down to him in unanimous defeat, including a greatly humiliated Prince Zuko who was covered from head-to-toe in prominent scorch marks. Sokka smiled at this image, becoming completely on board with learning chi if this event were to have a chance of taking place. 

“Not gonna lie, that does sound pretty cool.” Sokka chuckled pleasurably to himself whilst stroking his chin. Unbeknownst to Sokka, Aang and Katara looked weirded out by the fact that he inexplicably froze for a good 10 seconds. 

“Ummm, Sokka?” Aang concernedly called out in reactionary confusion. Just as a bit of drool was trickling down Sokka’s chin, he shook his head a few times to regain his temporarily lost focus. 

“Fine then. I guess it’s better than being bored half to death.” Sokka agreed to spending time with Goku. Relieved that Sokka wouldn’t bother them anymore, Katara smirked begrudgingly and fixed her braid. 

“Good. Now if you excuse us, me and Aang have to finish our waterbending practice.” Katara replied, going back to pushing and pulling the water like Aang was about to do. 

“Oh by the way, Sokka. If you and Goku have the time, could you clean out Appa’s toes for me? There was a lot of weird-looking gunk that got stuck in between them back at the Southern Air Temple.” Aang speedily requested, pointing to the aforementioned Sky Bison’s large feet. Sokka examined Appa’s toes, spotting large clumps of mud and weird-looking insects that were practically glued there. Immediately shivering in disgust, Sokka attempted to turn down Aang’s assigned task. 

“Woah, woah I didn’t agree to—” 

“Thanks!” Aang interrupted Sokka’s desperate pleas with a mischievous smile. He then swiftly turned his body around to be positioned next to Katara’s. Sokka, a look of befuddlement etched on his face, slumped both shoulders in shock. 

“…t-that. Errgh! This isn’t over, Aang!” Sokka swore irritably, shaking his fist in the air like a grumpy old man. After the bald monk purposely ignored this threat, Sokka scowled under his breath and shifted over to Goku. Said martial artist did not make any sort of sound, his expression remaining the same as it was upon their first arrival. Sokka then walked to the boy’s side, gently poking at him in order to garner his attention. 

“Psst, Goku! It’s me Sokka! Wake up! I want to ask—” Sokka whispered into Goku’s ear, his pokes becoming more prominent with the utterance of each syllable. He then stopped speaking all of a sudden, roughly shaking Goku’s body to see if that would do any better. This unfortunately didn’t do anything to cease Goku’s trance-like state. 

“Huh? If he’s not sleeping, what else could be going on in that big head of his?” Sokka surprisedly inquired, plopping Goku back onto his original position. He hurriedly rustled through his belongings, seeing if he could find anything that would help get Goku’s attention. 

Deep within Goku’s subconscious mind, an endless void of black and purple resided. This metaphysical world shifted into different shapes and sizes, seemingly changing based on Goku’s present emotional state. There were also large cloud formations that resembled people closely connected to Goku himself, including Grandpa Gohan, Master Roshi, Krillin, Bulma, and even his most recent friend, Aang. The centermost point of this otherworldly plain of existence housed a mental projection of said monkey-tailed warrior, his black hair flowing haphazardly in the nearly non-existent wind. Despite his eyes being closed like in the real world, Goku was crouched downward in the infamous Turtle Style combat stance. His head shifted around in a clockwise rotation, searching for any visible energy signatures, both inside and out. 

“With Aang’s journey as the Avatar being my top priority now, this is the only way I can properly train for the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament in 3 years. At least, until I find a stronger opponent than what the Fire Nation has to offer.” Goku muttered inwardly, his voice echoing across the distant expanses of his own mind. He steadily breathed in-and-out, the white aura surrounding his body gradually growing in both height and width. Suddenly, multiple copies of Mercenary Tao, the first person that was close to killing Goku, appeared out of nowhere. All of them maliciously grinned with sinister intent, their black eyes narrowed into slits at the mere sight of Goku. 

“DODON RAY!” Each copy of Mercenary Tao shouted powerfully in collective unison. They pointed their index fingers and shot large beams of yellow energy at the keenly focused 15-year-old boy, leaving absolutely no room for him to counterattack. At the last second, Goku opened his eyes and fazed out of existence in a black-orange blur. He bounced from side-to-side at break neck speeds, smacking away Dodon Ray after Dodon Ray with relative ease. Some of these chi-blasts were redirected at their original user, causing those specific versions of Mercenary Tao to disintegrate upon impact.

“YOU DAMN BRAAAAAAAT!” They screamed in pain-induced rage as absolutely no trace of them was left alive. Goku, not wasting anymore time, bounded off of the invisible walls apparently located in this spatial dimension and rocketed towards another Mercenary Tao.

“Hyaaaah!” Goku cried out, skillfully kicking straight through Tao’s entire torso. The once legendary assassin’s body was bisected into two individual halves, symbolizing how powerful Goku has become since his bout with the Red Ribbon Army 3 years ago. 

“Uh… Uh… No…” Tao stuttered painfully, spitting out blood as he grew limp and became one with the black-purple horizon. The remaining Tao duplicates grew more intimidated by Goku’s presence, sweat trickling down their nerve-wracked faces as they waited for Goku to move once more.

“There’s about five Taos left. I might as well make the most of this situation.” Goku analyzed his surroundings with a curt nod. He then cupped the palms of his hands together and looked upward at every single remaining Tao. 

“Kame…” Goku lowly bellowed, projecting a small orb of blue chi in the dead center of his palms. He then began hopping from one corner to the next, still continuing to charge his next attack.

“What’s that kid up to?” One Tao fearfully asked as he paid close attention to Goku’s directional movement. Recalling the renowned Turtle School technique from past experience, another Tao widened his eyes in pure exasperation. 

“Oh no! Stop him!” The Crane Hermit’s brother desperately shrieked, signaling for his fellow brethren to fire their Dodon Rays at the same time. Goku escalated his speed tenfold, jumping towards the top of each Tao’s heads. 

“Hame…” Goku expressed a bit more passionately as he lifted himself up to the skies of his enclosed mindscape. The blue orb began spinning around, multiple beams of light protruding from its core. 

“D-Dodon…” The group of Mercenary Taos announced at the same time. All five pointed their fingers at Goku, aiming to create one giant Dodon Ray that could hopefully save their “lives”.

“…HA!” Goku finished the name of his favorite chi-blast. However, instead of fully releasing it like usual, Goku squeezed the Kamehameha’s blue sphere and separated it into five separate ones. Goku then spun around in a backwards somersault until he was positioned upside down. 

“…RAY!” Mercenary Tao’s projected doubles announced for the last time. As intended, their yellow blasts collided with one another to form a massive, formidable-looking combo move. Sadly, the assassins didn’t expect for Goku to hold off on releasing his own attack before it was too late. 

“WHAT THE HELL?!” The Taos gasped in confusion and disbelief. Their eyes then grew erratic and bloodshot at the sight of five smaller Kamehameha Waves preparing to be deployed from Goku’s fingertips.

“Here goes! Scatter Kamehameha!” Goku unveiled the name of his new technique with a bit of uncertainty. With that being said, five similarly sized beams of energy plummeted towards the currently defenseless Taos. Each beam eviscerated the massive Dodon Ray in one fell swoop, independently curving outward to reach their intended targets. 

“NOT AGAAAAAAIN!” The Mercenary Tao quintet screamed in absolute horror. The Scatter Kamehameha’s individual parts blasted Goku’s former enemies to kingdom come, merging together to project an enormous explosion of sheer power and magnitude. As the smoke cleared, any trace of Mercenary Tao was rendered definitively nonexistent. Goku, smiling at the visible success of his new skill, gracefully landed back onto the ground without falling too fast. 

“Few! Guess that’s all of them. This proves that Tao wouldn’t really give me much trouble if I were to meet him again.” Goku yawned exhaustedly, feeling some fatigue after multiple hours of non-stop sparring. They might have been projected memories of former opponents, but they could still put up a decent challenge from time-to-time. 

“Still, I don’t think relying on image training will help me at all in the long run. It’s useful for creating techniques and other mental stuff, but it won’t help improve my physical strength in the real world. Kami and Mr. Popo already warned me about that.” Goku pondered skeptically. His expression notably grew more saddened at the thought of his current instructors.

“I wonder how they’re doing right now. Kami did say that time flows differently in this world compared to ours, so maybe things really haven’t changed much back there.” Goku worriedly muttered, still a bit confounded by the existence of time distortion and interdimensional travel. The boy ruffled his black hair in chagrin before a sudden idea came to mind. 

“If Roku was able to transport me here through the Time Room, maybe I can try to sense Kami’s chi signature somehow…” Goku curiously presumed, guessing that there was some sort of close connection between his world and this parallel one. Wishing to test said hypothesis, Goku cleared his entire mind and primarily focused on the chi around him. The purple clouds of his inner world melded into one comprehensive mass, honing in on Goku’s proximate location. Multi-colored stars coated all throughout the black sky also glowed brighter and brighter to match Goku’s visible display of energy. 

“Let’s see. It should be big enough to find.” Goku mentally recalled, acknowledging that Kami’s chi was, at the moment, much bigger than his. He tilted his head from side-to-side, distractedly tracking chi signatures located all across the globe. Some he recognized as belonging to benders due their slightly higher-than-average presences while others were so low that he couldn’t identify who they belonged to. Sokka and the Southern Water Tribe villagers, having no such connection with the four elements, immediately came to mind in this regard. However, amongst a wide array of weaker chis, there appeared to be an unsettlingly huge one located on the furthest reaches of this Earth. Goku lightly gasped at this strange phenomenon in immense astonishment. 

“W-Woah! Where did that come from?!” Goku stammered in a sudden daze. Upon being sent to this world, he did not expect such an impressive level of power to actually exist here. Said chi obviously wasn’t greater than his, but it still eclipsed Mercenary Tao’s and seemed to equally match that of Tien Shinhan during the 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament. The possibility of such an occurrence was absolutely impossible in a world dominated by the Fire Lord, so who, or what, was this thing? And why couldn’t he sense it before him and Aang were frozen 100 years ago?

“This is so weird. It’s obviously not Kami, so what kind of bender could possess chi like this?” Goku perplexedly stated, feeling a bit unnerved and admittedly excited at the same time. As this monstrous chi grew more vibrant and identifiable, pillars of raging fire encircled the entire chasm of Goku’s head. Black and purple space was swiftly replaced by an ever-expansive, flaming inferno before Goku’s very eyes. To top it all off, the visage of an elderly man was constructed from this figurative firewall’s combustive embers. He possessed a long, scraggly beard that completely covered his chin and upper lip. The massive face towered over Goku’s comparatively smaller body, glaring into Goku’s wide eyes with narrowed amber ones. 

“SON GOKU!” The old man hissed dangerously in a sinister, booming voice. Before Goku ask any more questions, the unknown face dispersed in an instant. The rest of the fire then launched towards Goku, attempting to engulf the defenseless martial artist’s in a super-heated surge of flame. 

“AAAAAAAAHHH!” Goku screamed in horror, closing his eyes and putting both arms up in defense. Then, all that he could see was darkness and traces of lingering firelight. 

Sokka was quickly starting to lose his patience. For the past 10 minutes or so, he tried everything from poking, shaking, shoving, and even punching Goku in a desperate attempt to wake him up. Sadly, all Goku’s body did in response was allegedly activate his chi and sweat profusely for some strange reason. The Water Tribe boy collapsed onto his knees, about to wither away in his boredom-induced sorrows. 

“This is pointless! Goku might as well be in a life-long coma at this point!” Sokka groaned sorrowfully, his teeth grinding close together in profound annoyance. He stomped over to his boulder, sitting down while holding both hands against his cheeks. The teen then stared down at the ground, catching sight of his discarded boomerang. He looked from Goku to the boomerang and vice-versa with growing interest. 

“I didn’t want to resort to this, but my options are kinda limited right now. Hopefully, I don’t hit him too hard.” Sokka remarked in reluctance, not wanting to hurt Goku despite the open knowledge of his insane durability. He tightly grasped the boomerang and held it close to his chest. 

“Alright, Boomerang. Work your magic!” Sokka whispered encouragingly. He took a deep breath and then hoisted the boomerang behind his head in preparation to throw it. Mid-throw, Sokka’s was halted by the abrupt opening of Goku’s eyes.

“AAAAAAAAHHH!” Goku screamed in absolute terror, practically hyperventilating as he held a hand over his beating heart.

“Gyaaah!” Sokka spastically shrieked, not expecting the long-dormant Goku to wake up so fast. He flinched and accidentally tossed his boomerang in the opposite direction, both smacking a frightened Momo in the tail and hitting himself in the head as it traveled backward. The high-pitched cries of said flying lemur immediately caught Aang and Katara’s attention. 

“Ahh! What happened?!” Aang shouted in concern. The monk lost control of a wave he was bending, causing it to exponentially double in size and splash onto an unfortunate Katara. Much to Katara’s chagrin, her entire body was absolutely soaked as a result of this mishap. 

“Aang!” Katara growled in a mix of embarrassment and anger. 

“Oops! Sorry, Katara!” Aang sheepishly apologized with a strained grin. Katara deadpanned, wringing her braided hair to rid it of excess water. The two then put their training on hold to see what was happening with Goku and Sokka. 

“Owwww! Dang it, Goku! After everything that’s happened, now is the time you finally decide to wake up?!” Sokka lashed out at the monkey-tailed boy. He convulsed in pain from the large bruise protruding on the back of his head. 

“Oh yeah! I guess it has been a good few hours, huh?” Goku chuckled obliviously as he scratched the back of his head. Sokka crossed his arms and gave Goku the stink eye. 

“Seriously, Goku? You let out a bloodcurdling scream, sweat like no tomorrow, and that’s all you have to say?” Sokka pointed out in disapproval, using his glove to gesture towards the perspirant encasing Goku’s form. Goku examined his drenched dogi, carefully wiping some of it off with his hands. 

“There’s not much I can say. All I was doing was image training to keep my chi levels in check.” Goku defended himself with one arm folded over the other in a pose mirroring Sokka’s. 

“Image training? What’s that?” Aang asked curiously. 

“It’s something I can access through meditation. I simply think of a potential opponent in my head and spar with that particular person until I lose focus. In most cases, I use former enemies from my past to check if I’ve improved in terms of power and fighting ability.” Goku shared a detailed explanation of image training and its underlying purpose. 

“That actually seems pretty useful.” Aang complimented amusedly with a ponderous expression on his face. 

“Were you screaming because of one of those fights?” Katara guessed in instinctive worry for Goku’s personal well-being. Goku gravely shook his head, looking up at the sky with a serious grimace. 

“No. I did that because someone… or something appeared in my mind.” Goku answered in an almost strained whisper. Sokkka, Aang, and Katara stared at the spiky-haired martial artist in quieted puzzlement, not entirely understanding what he meant. 

“It had this abnormal chi that was equal in power to some people I’ve encountered back home. I don’t know who exactly it belonged to, but from what I saw, it was some type of old man with a long, bushy beard. The strangest part, though, was the fact that his chi… matched the intense heat of a firebender’s.” Goku recalled from memory, the fiery appearance of said individual still gleaming in his eyes. The three backpedaled in fearful shock, each of their jaws practically dropped down to the floor. 

“That’s… that’s impossible, Goku. How could there be someone from the Fire Nation that matches you in terms of strength? I don’t even think the Fire Lord is at that level.” Katara desperately denied, refusing to imagine the possibility of multiple firebenders with Goku’s power. Goku bowed his head, wishing he knew more about this mysterious being. 

“I’m not sure. A lot can happen in 100 years. Apparently, from what Zuko and your grandma said, the Kamehameha and I became some type of legend in the Fire Nation, so maybe they… they…” Goku tightly clenched his fists, beginning to feel a sense of guilt and dread for the massive changes he might have caused throughout all four nations. He couldn’t live with himself if innocent people were harmed because of his inadvertent sharing of chi’s existence and standard mechanics. Sensing Goku’s distress, Aang walked over to Goku’s side and tentatively patted him on the back.

“Let’s not think about that right now, Goku. Our job is to reach the North Pole and make sure I’m ready to face my responsibilities as the Avatar by then. No matter what comes our way, we’re in this together through thick and thin. Right?” Aang attempted to comfort Goku’s sorrows, knowing that both of them had weight placed on their respective shoulders. He then outstretched his hand with a genuine smile. Goku examined the monk’s hand for a moment or two before inevitably shaking it in buoyant agreement. 

“Right! I was sent here for a reason, after all, and that reason is to help you learn chi and bring balance to this world.” Goku promised determinedly with a playful smirk. Aang sniggered along with him, temporarily cleansing their thoughts of this elderly firebender. Katara, however, remained uneasy about this prospect. 

“If what Goku says is true, the Fire Nation might become more monstrous and destructive than they ever were before. Goku’s undeniably strong, but…” Katara thought in growing despair. She sympathetically glanced at Aang, her vibrant blue eyes glistening with traces of predominant worry and sadness. 

“Will Aang even be able to stand a chance against them?” Katara wondered in fear for Aang’s safety as the newest Avatar. While she continually set her mind on this horrifying possibility, Sokka puffed up his chest and decided to take action into his own hands. He sidled up to Goku’s side and looked down upon him with the utmost confidence. 

“Speaking of chi, I’ve been wanting to ask you something for a looooong time, Goku.” Sokka questioned with a poke at this chest. Goku darted his eyes towards Aang with a raised eyebrow, looking for some sort of answer concerning what Sokka’s proposed question had to do with chi. Aang just blankly shrugged in a “don’t-ask-me” sort of manner. 

“Ummm ok? What did you want to ask me, Sokka?” Goku inquired with a tilt of his head. Sokka inhaled and then unleashed a large breath of fresh air in order to keep himself calm. 

“Could you give me some pointers on how to use chi?” Sokka requested in an uncharacteristically polite tone. Goku scratched his cheek in momentary thought before giving the teen an approving thumbs up.

“Sure! That doesn’t seem like a big deal to me. Where did the sudden interest come from anyway?” Goku willingly agreed to teach Sokka. Sokka stood in place, thinking back to his sorry excuse for a battle against Prince Zuko. His expression grew more downcast, the embarrassment of that moment continuing to take a toll on his spirits. 

“I just don’t want to be humiliated on the battlefield again. By using chi, I can hopefully reclaim my dignity as both a warrior and protector of my tribe.” Sokka emphasized his purpose for wanting to grow stronger. Aang and Goku were visibly pleased by this response, admittedly surprised that Sokka was capable of such responsible behavior. 

“I’m impressed, Sokka. That’s a pretty noble thing for you to—” 

“Also, my muscles could use a bit of work. We’re traveling the world, so I might as well make myself presentable to all the ladies out there.” Sokka joked, flexing his biceps to showcase their current size. Aang and Katara sighed in disappointment while Goku just stood there completely oblivious to what was being said. 

“Looks like I spoke too soon.” Aang nervously murmured in a strained chuckle. Sweat trickled down the back of his head as Sokka continued to wiggle his eyebrows in pride. 

“Glad you got your priorities straight, Sokka.” Katara sarcastically commented from the sidelines. Goku, on the other hand, crossed both arms behind his head with a confused look. 

“I don’t get it. What do bigger muscles have to do with girls?” Goku childishly asked, just as clueless about the opposite gender as he ever was. An awkward silence permeated throughout the group until it suddenly broke with Sokka laughing aloud in stunned amusement.

“Oh, my naïve, oblivious friend, looks I have just as much to teach you as you do me.” Sokka sniggered, wrapping an arm around Goku’s shoulders while steadily shaking his head.

“I still don’t get it.” Goku blandly replied with a stagnant, neutral expression.

“You’ll know in good time, Goku. Now, let’s move onto the more important stuff. Like telling me what the first step is!” Sokka reminded in an exuberant, almost pleading tone. Goku rested a fist under his chin in comprehensive thought. 

“There’s not really a concrete answer to that question, Sokka. Everybody’s training is different based on their skill and experience as a warrior.” Goku wisely lectured the eager non-bender. Sokka nodded profusely, spinning his hand as a signal for Goku to elaborate on this idea. 

“Ok then. Are there any particular training regimens that you would recommend?” Sokka asked. Goku simply raised up two fingers in response. 

“Hmmm off the top of my head, I’d say you have two options to choose from. One is the physical side of chi training that focuses on martial arts, strength enhancement, and so on. The other is the more mental side that centers around unlocking your aura, energy manipulation, and sensory connections to the chi of others. Both are needed to survive in combat with other chi-users, so the order really doesn’t matter.” Goku thoroughly explained the two sides of chi usage and acquisition. To the shock of no one, Sokka immediately knew which training method he would gravitate towards. 

“I’d say the physical method is my best option!” Sokka passionately decided with a tight clench of his fist. Goku began to smile a bit too widely at Sokka’s overt eagerness. 

“Are you sure about that, Sokka? You realize there’s no going back after this, right?” Goku chuckled in warning of the possible difficulties involved with acquiring chi. Sokka brushed him aside with the least bit of concern. 

“Please. Who do you take me for, Goku? If it allows me to put that Zuko jerk in his place, I’m ready for everything you’ve got!” Sokka proudly challenged. Goku held his hands up in mock surrender and shook them back-and-forth. 

“Ok, ok! Don’t say I didn’t warn you, though.” Goku cryptically advised with a playful smirk. Sokka’s condescending expression was quickly replaced by a very confused frown. 

“Was that a threat?” Sokka thought to himself with a small stroke of his warrior’s wolftail. Before walking to another portion of the island, Goku stopped mid-step and glanced back at Aang. 

“You want to join too, Aang? Getting a head start on your chi-training could help out.” Goku helpfully suggested. Still somewhat skeptical about inheriting a technique as destructive as the Kamehameha Wave, Aang ended up turning down Goku’s offer. 

“That’s alright, Goku. I’d rather finish my waterbending practice with Katara before moving onto anything else.” Aang said happily, admitting that he wanted to spend more time with Katara for right now. Katara, the presence of that ominous old man circling inside her subconscious mind, smiled appreciatively at the happy-go-lucky monk for just a short moment. 

“Suit yourself. Me and Sokka will be near Appa if you need us.” Goku shrugged as he jerked a thumb towards said lounging sky bison. Aang gave the monkey-boy a quick thumbs-up. 

“Right! We’ll keep that in mind. You ready to continue, Katara?” Aang stated, looking over to the frazzled waterbender for confirmation. Katara slightly shivered, shaking her head to pay proper attention to what Aang said. 

“Huh? O-Oh yeah, of course. Just make sure not to soak me this time, ok?” Katara timidly agreed, protectively clutching her clothes and braided hair. Aang took slight notice of Katara’s strange demeanor, but ultimately decided that it was nothing to be too concerned about. 

“No promises! Hehe!” Aang fervently chuckled with both hands placed behind his back. Katara rolled her eyes and laughed along with him. The two of them then walked back to the island’s shoreline, preparing to perform some more waterbending moves. 

“Stand here, Sokka. I need to find something before we can start.” Goku passively told, zooming from place to place in search of some undisclosed object. Sokka observed his actions, repeatedly tapping his foot in waiting for Goku to finish. 

“He’s probably just joking around. I mean, c’mon. It’s Goku. What’s the worst that can happen?” Sokka thought to himself, assuming that Goku meant no sort of harm with his open warning from before. 

“Let’s see. What’s the closest thing to a 50 pound turtle shell here…”? Goku wondered, distractedly perusing the island and surrounding mountain ranges for any sort of big object. 

“Turtle shell?” Sokka spluttered in disbelief, not sure if heard Goku correctly the first time. Goku pointed his finger at various objects ranging from an entire tree and multiple pebbles to even Momo.

“No, no, no… Ah this will do!” Goku continuously rejected object after object until his sight was set on a boulder: the very same boulder Sokka sat on mere minutes ago. Goku, appearing pleased by its impressive size, effortlessly hoisted the boulder upward with one hand. Sokka’s eyes widened at this bizarre spectacle. 

“What are you doing with that, Goku?” Sokka whispered hesitantly with a finger pointed at the elevated boulder. Goku did nothing, but share his usual care-free smile. 

“In order to begin your training, we’ll need to put this on your back first!” Goku knowledgably informed as if there was nothing out-of-the-ordinary with what he just said. Sokka’s tan skin paled considerably, repeatedly gesturing towards his back and the large rock in quick succession. 

“Put that… PUT THAT ON MY WHAT NOW?!” Sokka shrieked in absolute terror, his screams of reactionary shock echoing across the entire island and beyond. 

Deep within the lower chasms of his Fire Navy flagship, Commander Zhao stood in relative silence. He was positioned in the center of a dark, practically pitch-black chamber, his entire body remaining completely still. Like in his recent Agni Kai with Zuko, Zhao was not wearing any sort of armored chest-plate, accentuating his muscular frame and the sizable battle scars that stained it. His amber eyes narrowed in deep concentration and underlying fury, solely focusing on one particular person or object located in this room. Said individual was a unique variation of the typical Fire Nation soldier. Their skull-like face plate was comparatively much larger in size, sporting a black helmet that curved along the head and shoulder area. This helmet also had a spiked crest in its center that was coated blood red in color. The most striking feature of this specialized armor design was that each eye hole, rather than being pitch black like normal, glowed a fiery burnt orange. These mysterious eyes continuously shifted in size and shape, almost moving in proportion with Zhao’s determined stare. 

As they studied one another, Zhao silently released his aura. The Fire Nation soldier did not display any sort of visible reaction to this move. Instead, they protectively placed one arm in front of them and the other over a sheathed katana. Released from this arm’s metal plating were razor-sharp knives all separated into sections along the entire appendage. The fully equipped solider then squatted downward, bending their arm as if in preparation to throw a swift punch. Zhao only grit his teeth in an almost exhilarated sneer. 

“Begin.” Zhao hoarsely commanded under his breath. With that, his subordinate deployed three knives with a quick flex of their arm muscles. Launching towards the vulnerable commander at impressive speeds, Zhao darted his body from side-to-side in an attempt to dodge every blade. He successfully protected his bear skin from harm, using chi to precognitively recognize where the knives would go. As a result, each knife simultaneously careened towards the room’s southward wall. However, before they could uncontrollably pierce through the ship’s metallic hull, the Fire Nation solder stopped them in place with a simple wave of their hand. A light orange aura was then infused around the trio of handheld weapons, causing them to miraculously move on their own. The Fire Nation solder twitched three of their fingers forward and directly pointed to Zhao with their free hand. This resulted in the knives speeding back towards their intended target, spinning around from a wide array of angles. Now, they all orbited Zhao like living planets to a fiery, intensely heated sun. Zhao was too preoccupied with his own thoughts and inner frustrations to really care all that much. There was only one moment he was entirely concerned with: his embarrassing defeat at the hands of Fire Prince Zuko. In fact, just thinking of that royal pain boiled his blood to near sub-atomic levels.

“How?! How could I, the great Commander Zhao, stand to be humiliated by some delusional, worthless brat?!” Zhao seethed in outrage. While thinking, he outstretched his neck backward to evade another incoming knife.

“There was no way he could have possibly beaten me! I’m superior to him in strength, intelligence, power, and skill, EVERYTHING, yet…” Zhao continued, performing a backwards flip and somersault combo to throw off the path of all three daggers. Seeing this change in Zhao’s movement, the armored soldier crisscrossed their hands and then pointed towards the ceiling. As if directly imitating these hand gestures, two knives sped by each other’s paths in an ‘X’ formation while the last one performed a sporadic loop dee loop into the air.

“My sorry excuse for chi ended up working against me!” Zhao fumed disgustedly, enraged by both Zuko’s victory and his own failure. His eyes twitching with intense anguish, Zhao spotted two knives coming from the left and right. Increasing the size of his aura by tenfold, Zhao did the unthinkable and used his bear hands to protect himself this time around. He sent one knife flying in the opposite direction with a chi-enhanced punch and afterwards, smashed the other in a literal downward spiral. While these two were successfully deprived of their user’s orange energy, Zhao, unfortunately, was too distracted to see the third weapon coming. It nosedived from above Zhao’s head and deeply slashed across his chest. Fresh blood splattered upon impact, most likely adding another scar to the reckless Commander’s brutally beaten body.

“GRRRAAGH! Damnit!” Zhao shouted in pain, desperately clutching his chest to lessen the bleeding. Seeing that this little training exercise was finished, the Fire Nation soldier retracted all three blades back into their arm using chi. They clicked into place and became part of the armor’s metallic plating like individual pieces to a larger puzzle. They gazed upon their commanding officer’s new injury in disappointment, wishing that Zhao could have shown some sort of improvement from last time.

“That’s enough, Commander. You’ll pass out from blood loss if you keep going on like this.” The uniquely designed soldier advised in warning. Their voice sported a metallic echo, but was, all in all, distinctly feminine. Zhao shakily limped towards his ever-observant crewmember, scoffing at their so-called words of wisdom.

“And what gave you the audacity to order me around, Lieutenant Kari?” Zhao spat resentfully with a strained chuckle. Sighing, the newly named Kari took off her helmet to truly speak with Zhao face-to-face. Beneath the helmet was an admittedly beautiful young woman in her late-20’s to early-30’s. She had jet black hair that was neatly tied into an elongated ponytail extending from her head to the center of her back. Kari’s eyes were a striking sunset orange, perfectly matching the color of her chi. Additionally, she also had a light tan complexion to her skin that was notably darker compared to most Fire Nation citizens.

“That wasn’t an order. It was a suggestion; a helpful one at that.” Kari corrected Zhao’s question in a neutral, serious tone. She calmly set her helmet on the floor and walked over to a table set up near the wall. There, Zhao’s armor and a small First Aid Kit filled with bandages resided.

“Feh! Just because you’re one of the only female officers in the entire Fire Navy, doesn’t mean you’re special. You serve under me, remember?” Zhao snapped angrily, downplaying Kari’s achievement as anything, but worthy of praise. Kari faintly grimaced at this comment, but still brought the pack of bandages to Zhao’s side anyway. She crouched down and snapped off a sizable strip of fabric with her teeth.

“Understood, sir. But, as one chi-user to another, this act of self-mutilation won’t help elicit any noticeable improvement. You’re simply wasting both of our times if you think this will allow you to directly compete with Son Goku.” Kari exclaimed, wrapping the bandage around Zhao’s entire chest area before tying it. Zhao winced a bit at the excess pressure being applied to his wound, but ultimately shrugged it off.

“Fair point. As much as it infuriates me to admit, losing to Prince Zuko was proof enough of my underlying weaknesses in battle.” Zhao begrudgingly admitted with a contemplative cross of his arms. Kari placed the bandages back into their case and then put it back. As she placed the First Aid Kit next to Zhao’s armor, Kari glanced back at said commander with visible uncertainty.

“Then, what do you expect to do?” Kari asked sternly. Zhao stroked his brown sideburns in semi-thought before a conniving grin became permanently etched on his face.

“Something I’ve purposely avoided for many years now. However, with Son Goku and the Avatar’s return being proven true, I don’t have any other choice.” Zhao replied with a cryptic sense of intrigue and wanton determination. Kari, at first, didn’t quite understand what Zhao was implying, but at the mentions of the Avatar and Son Goku, it finally dawned on her. Her orange eyes widened in shock and disbelief.

“Y-You’re not saying that…”

“Yes. We’re going to bring Siwang Zhihuo out of hiding.” Zhao pleasurably reaffirmed his intentions of locating the self-proclaimed Fire of Death.  
“How do you expect to pull that off? Like you said, he’s been isolated from the rest of the world for years now. He could be dead for all we know.” Kari doubted that such an idea could be proven possible. Siwang Zhihuo was, after all, had to be more than 100 years old at this point.

“For a supposed chi-user, you aren’t very perceptive are you, Kari?” Zhao mockingly inquired with a sly smile. Kari deadpanned, quirking a brow at this vague question concerning her proficiency in chi.

“I’m not following, Commander.” Kari said whilst shrugging in confusion. 

“It’s simple, really. To track a chi-user, we use our own chi to sense his current location. The immensely powerful beings, after all, have auras that are the easiest to identify.” Zhao shared a possible way to locate Zhihuo’s ever-elusive chi signature. Kari hesitantly nodded in understanding and partial agreement to this proposal. 

“I suppose that could work. But, what if the Fire of Death discovered some way to suppress his energy? To better hide himself from those who want to personally seek him out?” Kari reminded Zhao of that possible outcome. She had been practicing that very same technique for quite awhile now, so Siwang Zhihuo, an alleged chi master, would already have it under his disposal. 

“Hmph I suppose combining my aura with yours could do the trick. Teamwork is a priority on this ship, you know?” Zhao joked, crossing his legs in a mock-meditative position. 

“Hilarious.” Kari sarcastically commented in a monotone voice. 

“The fact of the matter is that Siwang Zhihuo, based on his age and supposed experiences with chi, has come the closest to matching Son Goku in terms of raw power. Consulting him as a teacher will bring me one step closer to reaching true greatness as a Fire Nation Commander… no, Admiral! With such mastery of chi, the Avatar and this whole pathetic world will have no other choice, but to tremble in my indomitable presence! Hahaha!” Zhao evilly guffawed at his plans for global conquest and domination. With Siwang Zhihuo’s influence, nothing would seemingly stand in his way from that point onward. 

“Careful, Commander. Arrogance will do nothing, but lead to your downfall one of these days.” Kari chastised Zhao’s sense of grandeur, referring to the recent Agni Kai as a prominent example. Zhao simply narrowed his eyes at the armored woman standing in front of him. 

“Hmph as if you’re one to talk. The excessive need to prove your self-worth to others is exactly why you’re a part of this crew in the first place. Am I wrong, my dear Lieutenant?” Zhao darkly critiqued Kari’s reason for being here. Kari shivered in place, vividly recalling the turmoil she experienced in the Fire Nation’s esteemed military training camp. She tightly clenched her fists in discomfort before she could say anything else. 

“No…” Kari murmured, not even daring to deny Zhao’s claim. She gazed upon the floor in a mix of shame and silent self-deprecation. Zhao simply sneered at this downcast reaction in immense glee. 

“That’s a good girl. Now, do me a favor, and activate your aura.” Zhao commanded his lieutenant. Kari sat in front of him, crossing her legs Indian style. 

“Right away, sir.” Kari followed Zhao’s orders without question. The two then shut their eyelids and took calm, steady breaths. An all encompassing wave of chi engulfed the two firebenders and began to spread all throughout this very room. Their bodies were now symbiotically connected, working together to enhance the range of their chi’s sensory capabilities. However, for some strange reason, Kari and Zhao opened their eyes to view a landscape that was obviously not the ship’s basement like it should be. 

“C-Commander Zhao? Where are we?” Kari questioned fearfully. She examined her surroundings to spot torrents of white-hot flame and smoke. These fires burned endlessly, but did not seem to harm her or Zhao in anyway. 

“I don’t know. From what I can infer, it’s most likely an imaginary inner world of sorts. Maybe focusing our chi to a certain extent sent us here.” Zhao thoughtfully presumed, looking down to see that he was standing on thin air. 

“So, these aren’t our original bodies?” Kari asked as she examined her currently translucent hands. 

“No. We’ve simply taken form in the subconscious mind. That’s probably why the background is completely made of fire.” Zhao continued to guess, turning his body around to analyze this alternate dimension’s walled infernos. 

“Because we originate from the Fire Nation?” Kari pondered in esteemed fascination. 

“Why else?” Zhao simply inquired. Kari bit her lower lip, still immensely confused by the appearance of such a strange realm. 

“But, what does this have to do with tracking—” Kari was interrupted by the emergence of a terrifying chi. Kari and Zhao’s widened in amazement as the whole world around them began to shake uncontrollably. In an instant, the firewalls burned ever so brighter as the face of an ominous, bearded appeared. This face eclipsed Kari and Zhao in terms of size, profusely glaring at the two. 

“Siwang Zhihuo?” Zhao and Kari asked in unison, astounded that their identified person of interest was located so easily. 

“Ah, right. I almost forgot that “Fire of Death” nonsense was what I was called. Whatever, it’s close enough. Who are you two?” The elderly firebender asked in complete boredom. 

“My… my name is Zhao, commander of the Fire Nation Navy. This is Lieutenant Kari Hagarame, my second-in-command… more or less.” Zhao introduced himself and Kari. The way he described Kari’s title did not exactly please her all that much, but Zhihuo’s reaction was even more disgruntled. 

“Ah I see. Two of little Ozai’s dogs, hmm? Sheesh. And here I thought Son Goku’s presence would miraculously show up again. What a pity.” Siwang Zhihuo grumbled in profound disappointment. Zhao and Kari looked at one another in absolute bewilderment, not expecting a former military officer like Zhihuo to have such little care for their respective titles. 

“Little Ozai?” Kari repeated to herself questioningly, daring not to even picture the ruthless Fire Lord Ozai as a young infant. 

“Wait a second. You found Son Goku?!” Zhao shouted in shock, curious to know if he saw where the Avatar was too. Zhihuo contemplatively brushed his beard with a disembodied hand made of fire.

“Found isn’t really the correct term. He was image training within his own mind and accidentally identified my chi signature while searching for somebody else’s. I tried to talk with him, but apparently seeing my face scared him off. But, then again, screaming his name in a threatening tone didn’t help much either. Tell me, girl, do I look ugly to you?” Zhihuo rambled on about his short encounter with Goku. He then not-so-nonchalantly ogled Kari’s voluptuous figure, completely ignoring the irritated Zhao. 

“Ummm no?” Kari replied, not exactly knowing how to properly answer such a strange question. Relieved, the image Zhihuo brushed some nonexistent sweat from his brow. 

“Oh good, good. Hearing that from such a gorgeous young lady like yourself does wonders for my self-image! Being 112-years-old can be very hard to deal with, sometimes, you know?” Siwang Zhihuo gratefully complimented while scratching the back of his fiery head. Again, Kari did not know whether to be flattered or creeped out by Zhihuo’s kind, practically flirtatious words. 

“You’re welcome… I think.” Kari whispered in continual confusion. Seeing this as a moment to speak up, Zhao cleared his throat and looked up at Zhihuo’s face.

“Ahem pardon my intrusion, but I need to ask you something, Siwang Zhihuo.” Zhao informed in the most polite tone he could muster. 

“Let me guess. This question is about training you, isn’t it?” The infamous Fire of Death assumed from just looking at Zhao’s appearance. 

“Huh? How did you know?” Zhao astoundingly asked. Siwang Zhihuo laughed buoyantly, resting a hand on his bearded cheek in amusement. 

“When you’ve lived as long as I have, reading people like an open book is practically child’s play. From sensing your chi, I can already tell you’re a power-hungry egotist with suppressed anger issues. You probably lost a battle due to the overconsumption of your chi and now, wish to fix that error by consulting my help.” Zhihuo deconstructed the faults of Zhao’s character and the reason he consulted said Fire of Death’s guidance. Zhao practically froze in place, aghast by Zhihuo’s brutally honest words. 

“Wow. He really did read you like a book.” Kari slightly sniggered with widened eyes. Zhao cursed to himself, steam figuratively oozing out of ears. 

“And what’s wrong with that? Is seeking to claim more power for myself such a bad thing?!” Zhao growled questioningly in defense of his past actions. In response, Zhihuo glanced at the enraged commander with some sympathy.

“Look, Zow…”

“Zhao.” Zhao interrupted with a small raise of his finger. 

“Whatever. You remind me of a younger version of myself. Like you, all I wished to do was surpass everyone who belittled and claimed they were stronger than me. I was rash, thick-headed, violent, and most importantly of all, scared. I was scared that without limitless strength, I would be stepped on and left forgotten by everyone around me. However, after I grew more knowledgeable of the world and all four nations, such insecurities were meaningless in comparison to achieving my true goals in life. I learned that instead of striving to dominate my potential adversaries with little hesitance, I would recognize their own strengths and weaknesses as I do my own self.” Zhihuo wisely explained the problems involved with merely seeking to grow stronger and nothing more. Zhao’s anger slowly subsided as he thought over Zhihuo’s admittedly reasonable points. 

“My main question for you Zhao is that, as a Fire Navy Commander, who, why, and what are you fighting for? And if the Fire Nation does, in fact, take over the world as little Ozai planned, what will your goals be then?” Zhihuo sternly asked what Zhao’s true purpose for serving the Fire Nation was. Zhao was greatly stunned by this question. What would he do if the Fire Nation won the war? What else would be left to accomplish after that? He shook his head, grasping his temple in confusion. 

“I… I can’t answer that. Not right this moment, at least.” Zhao muttered incoherently, taking a step back to fully comprehend Zhihuo’s words. Seemingly pleased by this short, but sweet answer, Zhihuo nodded his head. 

“Good. Maybe by the end of our training together, you’ll figure that out.” Zhihuo hopefully exclaimed with a small smirk. 

“You’ll agree to train me? Even knowing what type of person I am?” Zhao asked in sudden surprise. 

“You can interpret it as an equivalent exchange of sorts. In exchange for my help in terms of improving your firebending and chi control, you lead me to Avatar Aang and Son Goku. They’re the only individuals who will truly challenge my abilities at this point in time, so seeking them out benefits me and you two at the same time.” Zhihuo compromisingly proposed in anticipation of fighting those two aforementioned kids. Zhao saw nothing wrong with this deal, so he didn’t bother arguing against its terms. 

“That sounds fair. You’ve got a deal, Zhihuo.” Zhao accepted Zhihuo’s training conditions with a smarmy grin. 

“Does that include me too, Fire of Death, sir?” Kari thought to inquire. Zhihuo smiled warmly at the timid female soldier. 

“Of course, Kari. Judging by the armor and chi signature, you’ve got a lot of conviction and fighting spirit buried deep within your soul. Being a female lieutenant in this day and age is no laughing matter either.” Zhihuo commended Kari’s accomplishments and unspoken search for respect on the battlefield. Kari, positively affected by these words, grinned in appreciation. 

“Now, as a word of advice, I’m going to say that my training will be far difficult than anything you’ve ever experienced before. Your bodies will be broken to their absolute limit both mentally and physically. There will be little time for rest, relaxation, or talk; only brutal, domineering fights for survival. If you die, that’s your own fault, not mine. Understand?” Zhihuo emphasized the challenges awaiting Zhao and Kari as his new pupils. Being involved in a global war, the two saw no trouble in participating in these challenges. 

“”Yes.”” Zhao and Kari agreed in unison. 

“Alright then. Bring your ship to Dragon Bone Island and make certain you aren’t followed. It’s been kept secret by the Fire Nation Royal Family for decades now and for good reason. Even Fire Lord Ozai might not even know exactly where it is.” The Fire of Death described the sheer confidentiality of his current residence. Kari and Zhao shivered at the name, Dragon Bone Island, but decided to play along with Zhihuo’s instructions regardless.

“Understood. We’ll try our best to keep this expedition a secret until further notice.” Zhao promised truthfully. Siwang Zhihuo squinted his eyes for a moment at this verbal promise, but ultimately had faith in what was being said. 

“Good luck finding it. When you reach the shores, your training will officially begin.” Siwang Zhihuo wished the two luck in their search. The flames surrounding him then grew more aggressive and lively, lighting up the entire plain in seconds. 

“Farewell.” Zhihuo finally declared as his face dispersed into nothingness. To Zhao and Kari’s momentary fright, their vision was blurred by emblazoned firelight. The next thing both of them knew, they were back on the ship as if nothing changed at all. Even stranger, their skin was coated in fresh sweat and miniscule scorch marks. 

“Well… that was an interesting experience.” Zhao remarked sarcastically, deactivating his aura and standing back up. Kari took cautious breaths, strangely tired out from her conversation with Siwang Zhihuo. 

“I agree. Siwang Zhihuo was a lot less fearsome than I imagined.” Kari mumbled in an exhausted sigh. She picked up her helmet and perused it for any noticeable damages. 

“Looks can be deceiving. Goku is a little kid, yet can shoot entire beams of energy from his hands. Not to mention how massive Zhihuo’s energy was that entire time we were speaking with him.” Zhao noted the deceptively innocent appearance of Goku. Kari shivered in remembrance of Zhihuo’s energy signature.

“That’s true.” Kari admitted, placing the helmet over her head to hide an uncommonly nervous visage. Zhao then walked over to the table and began positioning his armor back on. He tied each string to make certain that the shoulder pads were attached to his armor’s lower section. Now wearing his complete uniform, Zhao silently motioned for Kari to follow him. 

“So, what are you going to tell the crew? Dragon Bone Island, as the name implies, is a massive graveyard for the remains of dead dragons. Won’t they be uncomfortable traveling there?” Kari inquired unsurely; a bit concerned for the crew’s well-being during this situation. Zhao stopped walking to angrily glance at Kari’s masked face. 

“Didn’t you listen to what Zhihuo said, Kari? Dragon Bone Island is meant to be exclusively confidential. Meaning, we must go there alone for the old man’s training without any sort of assistance.” Zhao reiterated Siwang Zhihuo’s instructions.

“That doesn’t make any sense, though. We can’t just abandon the rest of our crew. You’ll be severely punished for that, maybe even demoted!” Kari hissed in a state of panic. Zhao turned around to gently clasp Kari’s shoulder. 

“We’ll stop by the Fire Nation for “repairs” of sorts and explain what’s going on. After our training is done, we’ll resume searching for the Avatar and Goku as if nothing happened at all.” Zhao explained in a much more restrained mood. Kari, about to say something else, held her tongue and nodded agreeably. 

“Ok. That’s fine, Commander.” Kari replied to the best of her ability. She then folded both arms behind her back and marched in close proximity to Zhao. 

“Remember, Kari. This training is for our and the entire Fire Nation’s benefit. We have to remain strong or we’ll stand no chance against Son Goku. Let’s not forget that Siwang Zhihuo has another name he’s greatly feared for.” Zhao audibly reminded Kari about the purpose for their training and search for power. He darkly paused at the last phrase, scattered rumors of Siwang Zhihuo’s impressive feats circling inside his distracted mind. 

“What’s that?” Kari hesitantly inquired, only hearing of the Fire of Death title and nothing else. Zhao narrowed his amber eyes, staring straight into Kari’s own.

“The Dragon Slayer.” Zhao revealed in a tense whisper. He then slowly walked up the stairs, leaving Kari alone in stunned horror. Now, to her increasing dismay, she realized why Siwang Zhihuo’s was located on the practically unhospitable Dragon Bone Island. It was created by Zhihuo out of the dragons he mercilessly slaughtered.


	13. Hopping Mad

After his ship was fully repaired to peak condition, Zuko secluded himself from Iroh and the rest of his crew to meditate. He was seated directly in front of four candles and a highly-detailed dragon head with two horns. The prince steadily breathed in and out through his nose, causing the flames of each candle to grow in size. However, Zuko could not fully keep himself calm due to a wide number of aggravating circumstances. On top of not being able to track Son Goku and the Avatar’s current location, the image of Zhao’s Light of Fire technique could not be fully expunged from his memory. He may have won that particular Agni Kai, but such a victory did not make Zhao’s sudden usage of chi any less abnormal. In fact, it only symbolized how evidently superior Zhao was in terms of combat skill and efficiency compared to him. Zuko couldn’t help, but wonder if Zhao didn’t overexert all of his energy with that so-called “chi blast”, would that battle have been another mistake added to his tarnished name?

“How did he do it? Last time I checked; chi manipulation was a power only acquired by the strongest of firebending masters. Commander Zhao shouldn’t even come close to that level of strength!” Zuko thought angrily. His amber eyes narrowed considerably, glaring directly into the candles’ fire. 

“Like Uncle said, his chi doesn’t compare to Son Goku’s in the slightest, but, like with firebending, I know that Zhao will seek out ways to improve what he is currently lacking. And through improvement…” Zuko scoffed, tightly balling his hands into fists. Seemingly in tandem with the teen’s fluctuating emotional state, the candles all grew hotter and much larger than before. 

“…comes problematic results.” Zuko darkly proclaimed, fearing that Zhao’s skill would far surpass his own in the next coming weeks or even days. Shaking in newfound rage, Zuko speedily stood up from his seat and growled. This small tantrum caused all four candles to simultaneously erupt into tall, fiery pillars. Zuko then slammed a fist on the countertop, tightly grounding his bared teeth.

“Grrrgh! I need to find out how Son Goku does it! It’s the only way I’ll truly be able to cease him and the Avatar without Zhao’s interference!” Zuko roared aggravatingly. He then let out a heavy, prolonged sigh, replacing his prior fury with slight bitterness. The lit candles immediately subsided in response to Zuko’s calmer mood, continuing to illuminate the entire room like before. 

Zuko stood up straight, examining the decorative dragon head with a tight grimace. He maintained eye contact with the dragon’s black pupils, picturing it as a materialized personification of his deepest insecurities. The dragon vividly shifted into the likenesses of Goku, Zhao, and, most concerning of all, his own father. Seeing the current Fire Lord’s intimidating visage caused Zuko to look away in profound shame, protectively hovering a hand over his renowned scar. After a short while, he then darted his eyes back to the dragon head to see if all three imaginary likenesses were still there. They weren’t, to Zuko’s considerable relief. 

Zuko’s wiped beads of sweat off his brow, reverting back to some trace of psychological normalcy. He then suddenly paused, taking a long, hard look at his sweat-dripped hand. 

“Somehow, someway, I will learn chi. There’s no other options left… if I ever want to come home again.” Zuko murmured in a low, infuriated growl. He tightly clenched his fist, causing plumes of white hot smoke to billow out. At the sight of this minor display of firebending, a strange idea came to Zuko’s head. He gently stroked his chin, attempting to recall the hand position Goku and Zhao displayed when deploying their respective chi blasts. 

“Goku… He chanted something before firing that blue beam. What was it again? The Kame… hame… grgh.” Zuko grumbled, trying to remember the name of Goku’s signature move. He slowly massaged his forehead before looking up at the ceiling. 

“I wonder. Is that the key to activating his chi? Slowly calling out a nonsensical phrase?” Zuko questioningly asked himself. Such an absurd, baseless assumption was most likely far from the truth, but, then again, it wouldn’t hurt to try. After all, what else did he have to lose?

“Can’t believe I’m doing this…” Zuko sighed reluctantly. He darted his eyes from left to right, making certain that no one was viewing his little “experiment”. Taking a deep breath, Zuko took a step back from the candle-lit table and ever-so-slightly squatted down to the floor. He then cupped one hand over the other and attempted to focus all energy into his hands. 

“To save myself from any further humiliation, I pray to Agni that this works. Or, worst case scenario, at least has some sort of noticeable effect.” Zuko pondered hopefully. He then narrowed his eyes in determination, looking toward the room’s metallic door.

“Here it goes. Ka… Me…” Zuko calmly uttered. In the open space between his palms, a small fireball began to take form. 

“Ha… Me…” With every syllable, the flame gradually increased in size. Sadly, a trace of chi was not present from within its core. 

All of a sudden, Iroh creaked open the door. He was holding a bound Fire Nation scroll in his wrinkled hands. 

“Is everything alright, Prince Zuko?” Iroh attentively asked in a low whisper. Unfortunately for the elderly firebending master, he could not fully react to his nephew’s attack before it was too late.

“…HA!” Zuko shouted at the top of his lungs. After fully outstretching his arms, a massive fire blast was launched from both hands. This unintentionally hit Iroh smack dab in the face, immediately dissolving into small embers upon impact. Zuko cringed apologetically, not expecting anyone, especially his uncle, to come barging into his room unannounced. 

Iroh’s face was covered in burns and small scorch marks. However, due to his longtime experience on the battlefield, he was completely unharmed aside from a slightly ruffled beard and two flaming eyebrows. The old man coughed a few times and calmly fixed his disheveled facial hair. 

“Ahem…may I ask what that was about?” Iroh awkwardly questioned Zuko’s actions. Said Fire Prince scoffed disappointedly, looking away from his uncle in evident shame. 

“Erm… sorry, Uncle. I was attempting to emulate Zhao and Goku’s techniques in order to unlock my own chi. I guess it didn’t work in the end.” Zuko explained the cause behind his unintentional sneak attack. Iroh shut the door behind him and firmly nodded in understanding.

“Don’t be so discouraged, Prince Zuko. Based on that attack, I can tell your firebending skills have greatly improved in the past few days.” Iroh honestly complimented. 

“Really?” Zuko asked in disbelief, not really noticing a difference in strength between this fire blast and others. 

“Of course. There’s still room for improvement, but even though you have yet to learn chi, encountering chi-users like Son Goku and Zhao has benefited your own abilities. Successfully deflecting Zhao’s Light of Fire, in spite of its many flaws, proves that much to be certain.” Iroh acknowledged the beneficial effects of encountering chi-affiliated opponents. Zuko lightly smiled in appreciation.

“I appreciate the words of encouragement, Uncle, but stronger firebending just isn’t good enough. Without chi, I’ll only continue to make a fool of myself in subsequent battles with Goku. At this point, the Avatar will never be in my grasp if Goku isn’t dealt with firsthand.” Zuko glumly expressed chi’s superiority over standard bending. 

“I understand your frustrations, Zuko. However, as I’ve reminded you countless times, patience is a virtue. Like with any acquired skill, time is the key to successfully manipulating chi. Goku’s exceptional fighting prowess is evident of this fact.” Iroh wisely advised. He walked over to the 16-year-old teen and firmly clasped a hand over his shoulder.

“With enough practice, you’ll be able to put up a decent fight against any adversary, the Avatar and Son Goku included. Now, whether you’ll necessarily win or lose is dependent on how you decided to perform as a warrior. Understand what I’m trying to say?” Iroh shared his words of encouragement. Zuko paused for a moment to fully digest the meaning behind Iroh’s words. 

“Yes, Uncle. I won’t let them get the better of me again. That’s a promise I should inevitably be able to keep.” Zuko wholeheartedly swore with a fist placed over his heart. Iroh, feeling as if Zuko didn’t completely understand his advice, nodded anyways.

“Good. Anyways, speaking of those two, the crew’s received some… let’s say “news” about their current whereabouts.” Iroh cautiously informed. He opened the scroll to reveal a small map of all four nations. 

“What kind of news?” Zuko inquired with a raised eyebrow. 

“Well… we have no idea where they are.” Iroh honestly replied. Zuko’s swiftly changed into of shocked appalment. 

“What?! How is that even possible?!” Zuko tensely fumed. He then yanked the map from Iroh’s hands and closely examined each section. 

“Don’t be too upset, Zuko. There have been multiple sightings of the Avatar and Son Goku, but due to their usage of aerial transportation, they’ve been almost impossible to track down.” Iroh attempted to soothe Zuko’s fiery temper. He pointed his finger at multiple points where Aang and Goku were initially spotted. 

“Tsk. How am I supposed to find them then, Uncle? If I had chi, tracking their presences wouldn’t be this big of an issue!” Zuko growled in reactionary annoyance. 

“That may be true, but I doubt even Goku could sense someone who is dozens of miles away. It’s just not feasible.” Iroh truthfully denied the likelihood of long distance chi sense. 

“Feh. How would you know?” Zuko spat at Iroh, finding it hard to take his words about chi to heart. Iroh closed his eyelids and blew out a tentative sigh. 

“I had a feeling you would ask that question at some point. It’s because…” Iroh trailed off. He then laid out his hands, emitting small orbs of energy from each fingertip. 

“… like Zhao, I know a thing or two about chi usage as well.” Iroh seriously revealed in a deep, echoey voice. With an effortless flick of his hand, all ten spheres combined to form a small, portable sun of sorts. Zuko could only gape in awe-struck amazement. 

“What?! Uncle, y-you…” stammered Zuko in complete shock. 

“Remember, Zuko. I was also a prince of the Fire Nation once. I’ve experienced many things throughout my time wandering the palace halls, including direct glimpses of my father’s Chi Force and the Fire of Death himself in action. It’s not too hard to believe that chi would be a central topic of my studies and training in general.” Iroh justified his usage of chi based on experiences he previously had as a young man. While the Fire of Death statement also surprised Zuko to an extent, he could not help, but feel immense resentment for the fact that Iroh kept this entire tidbit hidden from him for so long. 

“Are you telling me I could have been learning chi from you years in advance?! Why didn’t you tell me, Uncle?!” Zuko furiously demanded to know Iroh’s intentions. Iroh was undeterred by Zuko’s outrage, maintaining a cool, composed temperament all throughout this conversation. 

“Simply put, it wasn’t the right time for you to learn. As the prince, firebending should be your top priority first and foremost. Introducing you to a more complex, fundamentally destructive property would not have been to your immediate benefit at such a young age. The art of firebending, in all its physiological complexity, must be fully realized before chi can be used to its advantage. Without that, you’ll become just like Zhao, wrongfully utilizing chi as a mindless power boost and nothing more. That, Zuko, is why the Light of Fire was so weak in comparison to Son Goku’s Kamehameha Wave.” Iroh went over the multitude of reasons for why Zuko wasn’t ready to awaken his own chi. 

“I’ll never be like Zhao, Uncle!” Zuko boldly proclaimed with the utmost conviction. “With chi at my disposal, he won’t be able to stand in our way to claiming the Avatar and Son Goku ever again. And you are the only one who can help me guarantee that.” 

Zuko marched up to Iroh’s form, giving the retired general full, uninterrupted eye contact. 

“So, I’m asking you from nephew-to-uncle and prince-to-prince, Uncle. Will you teach me chi?” Zuko loudly questioned with dangerously furrowed eyebrows. To Iroh, a ferocious, unstoppable fire was burning in Zuko’s very eyes. It, surprisingly, almost seemed similar to the abject fearsomeness Ozai’s own seemed to possess. 

“Fine, Prince Zuko. We’ll start with the basics first thing tomorrow morning.” A defeated Iroh agreed to take up Zuko as a temporary student. Zuko, for the first time in quite a while, genuinely smirked in excitement. 

“But, I hope you realize that everything I just advised to you still applies. These training sessions cannot be rushed or solely achieved through brute force. Do I make myself clear?” Iroh strictly asked Zuko to heed his aforementioned words of wisdom. Knowing how hotheaded his nephew could truly be, reiterating the most crucial point of their discussion needed to be done for Zuko’s own sake.

“Yeah… I won’t let you down, Uncle.” Zuko determinedly agreed. To Iroh’s dismay, it seemed like the teenage firebender only half-listening. 

“Alright then. In the meantime, run through your normal firebending exercises. Bending will play a key role in chi acquisition from this point onward.” Iroh instructed authoritatively. He then opened the door, attempting to depart from Zuko’s living quarters. 

“Will do. Let me know if there anymore sightings of the Avatar’s bison.” Zuko gruffly noted. He then crossed his legs and began meditating once more. Iroh distractedly glanced back at him, noticing how huge the flames of all four candles were now. It appeared that Zuko’s breathing was now more anxious and energetic than usual. 

Iroh shook his head and lightly shut the door behind him. The elderly firebender stroked his gray beard, sporting a look of concern and abject disappointment while doing so. 

“Zuko… did you listen to any of my warnings? Or is the goal to reclaim your honor blinding you from what’s truly important?” Iroh worriedly thought. He glimpsed back at the world map, taking note of each location the Avatar and Goku previously traveled through. 

“I suppose I’ll need to find out for myself…” Iroh muttered. He rolled the map back into a scroll and wandered off to some other portion of the Fire Navy ship. At this point, three separate parties were attempting to empower themselves with the mystical properties of chi. With Aang and Sokka potentially learning from Goku, Zhao and Kari Hagarame learning from the infamous Fire of Death, and Zuko beginning to learn under his only uncle, Iroh, who will attempt to master chi in the quickest amount of time? 

Sokka was frozen in place from shock after hearing about Goku’s absolutely insane training method. His eyes were widened to maximum capacity, staring at the larger than average boulder as it proceeded to be held in Goku’s hand. Said monkey tailed boy was evidently confused by this over-the-top reaction. 

“What? Was there something wrong with I just said?” Goku ignorantly asked with a slight quirk of his eyebrow. Sokka speedily rubbed his eyes, unable to believe what he was seeing and hearing.

“W-What’s wron— WHAT’S WRONG IS THAT YOU’RE TRYING TO CRUSH MY FRIGGIN SPINE, GOKU! ARE YOU INSANE?!” Sokka screamed at Goku, directly gesturing to the rock hovering over their heads. Goku blinked a few times, trying to comprehend why Sokka was so angry. 

“Oh yeah. I guess carrying this on your back would be a bit too extreme, huh?” Goku lightly giggled. He then set the boulder down, causing the entire island to momentarily rumble. 

“You don’t say…” Sokka muttered sarcastically. Subconsciously, he was also relieved that Goku diverted his attention away from the boulder for now. 

“This is going to be difficult then. My friend, Krillin, and I were able to handle this weight just fine when we were training under Master Roshi. But, then again, both of us had prior martial arts experience beforehand. Hmmm…” Goku carefully pondered. Thinking wasn’t Goku’s strong suit by a large margin, but he needed to quickly decided on an alternative option.

“Well, we can’t all be abnormal freaks of nature like you and what’s his name, Goku.” Sokka stated matter-of-factly, taking a seat on the boulder once more. 

“I don’t know. At the time, Krillin was around my height and looked fairly similar to Aang. Actually, come to think of it, Krillin could pass off as an airbender just fine.” Goku jokingly replied with a wide smile. 

“Great. I have less backbone than a short, bald kid.” Sokka heavily sighed in self-detriment. Goku brushed aside Sokka’s insecurities with a dismissive wave of his hand. 

“Eh don’t put yourself down too much, Sokka. As I’ve already mentioned, everyone has a different method of training that suits them best. I’ll just need to lower the weight a bit and move on from there.” Goku calmly assured the Southern Water Tribe teen. 

He then scanned the island for any sort of heavy object he could utilize. His obsidian orbs spotted dozens of smaller, fist-sized rocks buried within the shoreline’s sandy exterior. Gaining a new idea, Goku utilized his agility to gather each rock into a large pile. 

“These should do the trick.” Goku whispered to himself. Now, about eight or so rocks lied atop both of his arms. 

“Hey, Aang! Do you have some rope lying around anywhere?” Goku asked aloud. Both Aang and Katara stopped their waterbending session to answer the martial artist’s question. 

“Ummm maybe? Try looking in Appa’s saddle.” Aang suggested uncertainly. Goku glanced at said Sky Bison in acknowledgement. 

“Ok. Thanks!” Goku replied back with a small thumbs up. He then scurried over to Appa’s side, speedily perusing through the gang’s belongings. After digging through each bag, Goku successfully located multiple piles of rope. 

“Ah! Here we go!” beamed the monkey-tailed boy in satisfaction. With the rocks and rope in hand, Goku ran back to stand in front of Sokka. He then set down his newfound collection of rocks and slowly unwound one of the lassos. 

“Can you stay still for a second, Sokka?” Goku abruptly requested. Sokka tilted his head to the side, not quite understanding what Goku’s exact idea was. 

“Erm okay? You’re not putting these rocks on my back either, right?” Sokka cautiously complied to Goku’s order. He protectively hovered a hand over his back in case Goku attempted to do anything harmful.

“Just wait and see. This will definitely work out better than before.” Goku confidently promised. Before Sokka could announce any further objections, Goku practically pounced on his body. With the rope, he tightly secured two rocks to each arm and about four rocks to both of Sokka’s legs. Rocks were, as a result, tied around Sokka’s ankles and the edges of his thigh-length boots. 

Afterwards, Goku clapped both hands together in direct admiration of his handiwork. Sokka, on the other hand, was perplexed by how heavy his entire body was beginning to feel all of a sudden.

“There. With these rocks, I’ve added more weight to your wrists, feet, and ankles.” Goku informingly announced. In an attempt to see if Goku’s idea was actually legitimate, Sokka took a small step forward. He struggled to lift one single foot off the ground, causing the tribal teen to trip over himself in minor recoil. 

“Oof! I can’t even walk right! How is this supposed to help me again?” A slightly out-of-breath Sokka expressed his annoyance. Attempting to walk once again, Sokka accidentally faceplanted onto the sand-covered surface. Every rock sealed to his body left small, crater-like impacts in responsive tandem. 

“By restricting your movements for an extended period of time, you should be able to improve in terms of speed, strength, and above all, endurance. These rocks aren’t as good as the actual weighted clothing from my world, but they should have a similar effect altogether.” Goku honestly explained the ups and downs of rock centric weight training. Sokka glanced down at his restrained arms, attempting to flex as if he were working with dumbbells. 

“Weighted clothing, huh? How long do you expect me to wear… these?” Sokka curiously asked, hoping that the expected results of this training session would come as soon as possible. Goku rested a hand on his cheek in deep thought over Sokka’s question. 

“A few days or so. Maybe more.” Goku guessed with a small shrug. Not too happy with this inference, Sokka gasped in audible despair. 

“D-Days?! I think you actually are trying to kill me!” Sokka comically accused Goku of “torturing” him on purpose. Unable to focus properly due to his non-stop ranting, Aang and Katara once again joined the conversation to bask in Sokka’s overexaggerated turmoil. 

“I think this might be to your benefit, Sokka. I mean look at the bright side, you’ll finally be exercising for a change.” Katara humorously pointed out. For a so-called warrior, the young waterbender knew full well that Sokka was all talk a majority of the time. Sokka’s confrontation with Zuko and his men was the first real battle he ever participated in, after all.

“What’s that supposed to mean? You don’t get these from doing nothing, Katara!” Sokka retorted, rolling up both sleeves to showcase his so-called muscular physique. This ended up making the rocks exert more pressure in that particular area. 

“What about those? They’d be better if you didn’t waste time gawking at your own reflection all day.” Katara blandly stated. Sokka offendedly covered his arms, glaring at Katara in irritation. 

“Tsk. Just go back to splashing your water, sis.” Sokka scowled, shooing Katara toward the body of water she was previously bending from. After glaring back, Katara swiftly bent a small wave of water at Sokka’s face. Unable to evade in time, this attack completely drenched him from head-to-toe.

“Like that?” Katara smugly quipped. She crossed her arms and smirked at Sokka in knowing mischief. Gawping at his wettened clothes, Sokka growled abrasively.

“Grrggh! Kataraaagh!” Sokka shrieked, smacking against the ground in a failed attempt to charge his younger sister. Aang, Katara, and even Goku collectively giggled at this abrupt freefall.

“Hehehehehe want to take a break to watch Goku and Sokka train, Katara? Seems like it could be fun.” Aang amusedly offered the tan-skinned girl. 

“You know what, Aang… that doesn’t sound like a bad idea!” Katara joyfully agreed, placing herself right next to the aforementioned Avatar. All three kids gazed at Sokka’s discombobulated body in unison.

“You guys are enjoying this way too much…” Sokka grumbled resentfully. His voice seemed to be muffled a bit from the sand. 

“Can you blame us? You make it too easy.” Katara proclaimed in evident acknowledgement of the fact Sokka could be easily offended. Sokka huffed, shakily picking himself off the ground at a slow, careful pace. 

“Whatever. I’d like to see you do thi—” Sokka abruptly fell to his knees in almost immediate timing. His arms limply hung next to the sides of his body, being forced downward by each rock.

“Uggggh. The pain.” Sokka sorely moaned. Goku, having enough laughs for the time being, came to Sokka’s aid and roughly pulled him upward. The warrior-in-training almost experienced some form of whiplash due to Goku’s bottomless strength managing to lift him up without any effort. 

“No more joking around, Sokka. Before moving onto chi, you’re going to need to walk around normally with these rocks on. Try it out and see.” Goku seriously instructed his new student. 

“Fine. This better be worth it in the end!” Sokka begrudgingly agreed to follow Goku’s orders. 

“It will. You’ve already seen how fast I can be during a fight. Don’t you want to be the same way?” Goku reminded Sokka of his above average speed. Sokka, recalling Goku’s one-sided battle with the Fire Nation soldiers, wholeheartedly bobbed his head up and down in agreement. 

“You bet I do.” Sokka eagerly exclaimed with a battle-ready glint in his eyes.

“Then no more distractions from here on out. We need to start making some progress before our next stop comes up.” Goku uttered in astute focus on the new task at hand. Sokka attempted to loosen himself up a bit via stretching, but was put to a momentary stop by Goku. 

“Oh, I almost forgot!” Goku remembered, directing Sokka’s gaze to the boulder from minutes prior. “By the end of this first session, Sokka, I want you to push that same boulder a few feet away from you without any help. Lifting it is a bit more difficult, so we’ll try something like that another time. Get what I’m saying?” 

Sokka alternated the position of his head to the boulder and Goku in quick succession. In spite of the boulder’s massive size, Sokka favored maintaining his pride over the fear of probable struggle. So, he ultimately followed Goku’s course of action without argument.

“Loud and clear. Not sure if pushing that thing is reasonable or not, but I get the picture.” Sokka noted the uncertainty of achieving this preset goal. Goku, confused by Sokka’s compliance, scratched the back of his head before continuing small lecture. 

“Uh… okay. With that being said, the first step of your chi training will involve doing a few laps around this island. This should help you get situated with the increased pressure your body is feeling. Or, at least, I hope it does…” Goku assigned Sokka with a training exercise for him to partake in. Goku’s hesitance brought a bit more concern from Sokka’s perspective. 

“Why do I get the feeling you’re not 100% sure if this will work or not?” The 15-year-old boy asked with an accusatory squint of his eyes. Goku exasperatedly shook his head, wondering how many times he would need to repeat himself for Sokka’s sake. 

“I already told you, Sokka. Weighted clothing does work! Now, do some stretches before walking around the island. Cramped joints won’t do you any good for this type of exercise.” Goku emphasized the proven fact that weight training does indeed produce beneficial results. He then sat down and crossed his legs, patiently waiting for Sokka to get started.

“Oh sure. Like my joints aren’t aching already.” Sokka bitterly mumbled. With great strain, he attempted to touch his toes with each hand. This proved to be a lot more difficult than it normally would be, becoming a lot slower and time consuming due to the rocks’ additional restriction. By the time he managed to do it, Sokka was already breaking up a sweat from exhaustion.

“I-Is that good enough?” Sokka hoarsely asked. 

“Well… you still need to work on your leg muscles first.” Goku responded with a gesture towards his own leg muscles. 

“You’re kidding? Bending down was already difficult as is!” Sokka choked out in dismay. Goku’s expression did not soften, showing that he was not fooling around this time. 

“Like one of my masters said, perseverance is crucial to a strong mind and body. Chi training’s only going to get more difficult from here, Sokka, so you might as well endure the strain before it’s too late.” Goku forewarned the continuous difficulty indicative of mastering chi and martial arts. Fully coming to grips with the inevitable hardship this training would involve, Sokka sighed a breath of resolute defeat. 

“Alright, alright! I’ll keep pushing on through til’ the bitter end or something!” Sokka cried out, throwing his hands up in the air as high as he could feasibly muster. Goku proudly smiled at his resolve.

“That’s the spirit!” chirped the monkey-tailed boy with a consecutive raise of his fist. Sokka put one foot in front of the other, side-glancing at Goku whilst mumbling under his breath. 

“Yeah, my spirit after a few more hours of this…” Sokka silently whined. He then outstretched his legs and placed a glove on each boot in step-by-step succession. After completing one last, agonizing stretch, Sokka cracked his knuckles and prepared to start walking. 

“Let’s get this over with. Don’t let me down, body!” Sokka openly encouraged all parts of himself to survive the entire day. Without further ado, the eldest grandchild of Kana heftily dragged one foot in front of the other. He shouldered the rocks’ cooperative burden and, as told, walked around in a small, fairly uneven circle. 

“Calm down, Sokka. Your entire body may not be able to function properly for who knows how long, but the pros do outweigh each con. Think of what dad would do in this situation…” Sokka subconsciously attempted to calm his nerves. At the thought of his father, the Southern Water Tribe’s current chief, Sokka ever-so-slightly picked up the pace of his stride. A ghost of a smile was also painted on his face. 

“That’s good, but I suggest moving just a tiny bit faster. This island’s pretty big, you know?” Goku advised, emphasizing how much quicker Sokka should move with a pinch of his finger. 

“Yeesh. Don’t you think I’m trying to, Goku?! I bet you had just as much trouble at some point, right?” Sokka growled in frustration as he limply trudged onward. Despite the adversity he did in fact experience throughout his past three years as a martial artist, Goku chortled at this question. 

“Actually, my initial training was waaaaaay more intense. Not only did Master Roshi make Krillin and I wear 50 pound turtle shells for an extended period of time, the two of us had to deliver bottles of milk while skipping!” Goku happily remembered his monthlong preparation for the 21st World Martial Arts Tournament. Sokka didn’t really understand how milk delivery connected with martial arts, but the concept enough was still baffling to hear. 

“D-Deliver milk? What kind of sadistic old coot is this guy?!” Sokka shouted in appalment. The still seated Katara and Aang were similarly amazed by this new information. 

“Requiring you to skip is pretty eccentric too.” Katara commented puzzlingly. 

“I’m just shocked that it actually worked.” Aang added in perplexment, having no place to doubt the mastery of martial arts technique Goku one moment after another.

“That’s ol’ Kame-Senin for you! Despite his occasional weirdness and interest in dirty magazines, he really knew what martial arts training was all about!” Goku praised Master Roshi’s performance as his first and, with the obvious exception of Grandpa Gohan, most influential mentor. Aang grinned at Goku’s joyful reminiscence, wondering if this Roshi person meant just as much to the spiky-haired boy as Gyatso did to him.

“Dirty magazines? I hope that doesn’t mean what I think it means.” Katara deadpanned in visible disgust. Aside from the Fire Nation obviously, pervy old men were people she had no intention of meeting anytime soon. 

“Man, just talking about it really takes me back! Hehe!” Goku chuckled buoyantly. “Those were some good times.”

Goku nostalgically thought over the past few years with a wistful, genuinely upbeat smile. However, after recalling Roshi’s recent sacrifice against King Piccolo, his mood suddenly darkened into one of sadness. 

“I… I just hope he and everyone else was wished back by now.” Goku desperately pleaded. Due to the destruction of Shenron and the Dragon Balls, he hoped that Kami would be able to resurrect said eternal dragon fairly soon. Unfortunately for Goku, since the passage of time in this world did not move in conjunction with his, he would have no one way of knowing what could be going on there. At least, until he somehow found a foolproof way of traveling back home. 

“What’s wrong, Goku? Are you sensing something again?” Sokka inquired Goku about his regression in attitude. 

“Huh? Oh no. It’s nothing. Just keep doing what I told you.” Goku claimed assuredly. Sokka rolled his eyes defeatedly and heaved back around the beach’s sandy pathway. Despite his current obliviousness, Sokka was beginning to cover more distance than earlier on. 

Goku cautiously folded his arms, trying to remain positive about Krillin, Roshi, and Chiaotzu’s fates. He gulped a building lump in his throat and, without further delay, went back to tracking Sokka’s progress. This inadvertently led to him sharing eye contact with both Katara and Aang. 

“By the way, Aang, I forgot to ask.” Goku figured to ask the arrow-tattooed monk. “What is our next stop anyway?”

An enthusiastic twinkle materialized in Aang’s eyes, appearing as if he were specifically waiting for that question to come up in conversation. 

“Glad you asked, Goku! It’s going to be somewhere native to the Elephant Koi I mentioned. Not sure what the exact place is, but it definitely has a lot of water.” Aang detailed his next attraction of interest. Goku and Katara exchanged weird looks with each other, taking into consideration that this entire island and mountain range were wholly encompassed by ocean water. 

“That doesn’t narrow down much, Aang.” Katara deadpanned. Aang sheepishly scratched his cheek with a small, apologetic grin.

“I know, I know. Trust me, though, it’s going to be 100% worth visiting!” Aang promised that riding Elephant Koi would have a guaranteed enjoyment factor. “This place has some merit too, but I’m kind of disappointed the Hopping Llamas haven’t showed up yet.”

“Oh yeah. You talked about riding those when we left the South Pole. What do they look like?” Goku interestedly questioned. Aang rested a fist underneath his chin, mentally picturing the appearance of a fully grown Hopping Llama. 

“Well, it’s been a long time since I’ve last seen them, but they’re usually pretty big, have shaggy fur, and…” Before Aang could finish his vivid description, a quadrupedal creature miraculously landed on the island from some higher point of elevation. It was around five foot, eleven inches tall and had disheveled clumps of white fur. The animal also had a noticeably long neck and two identical ears atop its head. However, its most striking feature was the pair of triangular, razor sharp horns spouting from in between those same ears. 

“Baaahh!” cried the Hopping Llama as it distractedly licked its lips and took a careful look at the surrounding landscape. Aang, Katara, Goku, and even Sokka all froze in place at the occurrence of this strange, perfectly timed arrival. Momo, on the other hand, hid behind Appa’s foot and hissed intimidatingly at the peculiar mammal.

“Look something like that?” Katara said while pointing to the aforementioned llama. 

“Yeah. I had a feeling they were wandering around those mountain ranges, but I didn’t expect one to get this close! This works out perfectly!” Aang whooped in pure, child-like glee. Sokka forcibly dragged himself to stand next to everyone else, pointing at the Goat Llama in abject revulsion. 

“W-What the heck kind of animal is that?! And where did it come from?” Sokka spat disgustedly, tilting his head in all directions to locate the direct source of this llama’s arrival. 

“Did it fall from the sky?” Goku wondered, squinting his eyes to get a better look at the mountains above. 

“No, guys. Goat Llamas, or Hopping Llamas as I and most other people call them, consider mountains like these their central habitat. He must be stopping here for a short break or something.” Aang knowledgeably answered each of their questions. The Hopping Llama, blissfully unaware of the group’s existence, began chowing down on some stray grass hidden beneath the sand.

“But, how did it… erm sorry… he get from there…” Sokka pointed a hand toward the relatively distant rock formations. “…allll the way to here so fast?! It doesn’t make any logical sense!”

Aang sniggered mischievously at Sokka, Goku, and Katara’s unawareness towards what a Goat Llama was capable of. 

“Just watch and see. You guys will get a good kick out of this.” Aang suggested in amusement. The Hopping Llama bent his knees increasingly low to the ground, accentuating the sheer magnitude of his thighs. 

In split second timing, the llama leaped about fifty feet off the ground and safely perched himself on the edge of another mountain top. Pressurized hoofprints were left behind in the sand.

“Baaah!” The Hopping Llama warbled powerfully. In split second timing, he leaped about fifty feet off the ground and safely perched himself on the edge of another mountain top. Pressurized hoofprints were left behind in the sand once he departed. 

“Woah.” Katara whistled in awe. 

“Things just keep getting weirder around him, don’t they?” Sokka grumbled, starting to think that Aang’s status as the Avatar was a magnet for bizarre situations.

“Guess they don’t call them Hopping Llamas for nothing.” Goku noted as his eyes scanned the llama’s elevated path. 

“Heh. My point exactly! With the use of their leg muscles, Goat Llamas are able to speedily jump from mountain to mountain with relative ease. It’s why riding them is so much fun!” Aang pleasantly sung his praises of mounting Goat Llamas. Following after the figurative leader, about five or so Hopping Llamas of varying ages, shapes, and sizes came into view. They all landed on the island, communicating amongst one another in slightly delayed unison. 

“Ba.” A female specimen without horns whined. 

“Blaaaah.” Another male bleated back in a similar sounding tone. 

Spellbound by the emergence of so many Goat Llamas in one area, Aang wanted to take full advantage of this immensely rare moment. 

“Look at them all! This is our chance!” Aang whooped encouragingly. 

“I’m not sure, Aang. They’re kind of jumping pretty high. Won’t it be dangerous?” Katara hesitantly shared her concerns. 

“There’s nothing to worry about, Katara. As long as you don’t excessively provoke them, Hopping Llamas get along just fine with humans! Just tightly wrap your arms around their neck and they’ll do all the work.” Aang convinced Katara being afraid of riding the Hopping Llamas wasn’t necessary. 

“Okay, Aang. If you say so…” Katara ultimately agreed with Aang’s points. Looking at Katara, Aang’s cheeks suddenly turned a light shade of red. 

“Ahem. Besides, if you do fall, I’ll always be there to catch you.” Aang passionately swore to protect her at any given moment. Katara, lost in her own thoughts for a second, turned around to gaze at Aang in confusion. 

“What did you say?” Katara questioned with a quirked brow. Aang instinctively flinched, his face erupting into a flush of bright red. 

“Ergggh umm… I-I mean… I can carry you with my glider in case anything goes wrong, you know? Appa and Goku’s Nimbus Cloud could work too.” Aang reiterated his prior statement in a nervous stammer. 

“Right. That makes me feel less nervous, at least.” Katara gratefully proclaimed with an appreciative grin. Aang, still blushing, rapidly nodded his head. 

“G-Great! You coming along too, Goku? Sokka?” Aang hurriedly carried on with the conversation. 

“Sure. After what happened at the Southern Air Temple, some genuine fun wouldn’t hurt at all.” Goku revealed his interest in riding the Goat Llamas. 

Sokka furrowed his eyebrows at the others and every single llama wandering around the island. 

“Did you all forget that I have rocks tied to me?! How would a llama manage to withstand that much weight?!” Sokka yelled, wriggling his arms around to emphasize their increased weight. 

“That’s a pretty good point. What should we do about that?” Aang asked, peering over to Goku for a proper answer. 

Goku took a moment to think of a solution before snapping his fingers in realization. 

“I’ve got it! How about you try to catch one as a short test? With the rocks still secured to your arms and legs, the llama could serve as a makeshift opponent for the purpose of potentially increasing your own performance in combat.” Goku shared his idea for combining Sokka’s training with their current source of entertainment. While somewhat reasonable on paper, Sokka was not at all impressed.

“Earth to Goku! I can barely move with this crap on! What makes you think I can grab a llama that hasn’t skipped leg day and, worst of all, has knife-shaped horns?!” Sokka angrily reminded the young Saiyan about his low maneuverability. 

“Look, Sokka. I’m only giving this challenge as a benefit for your training in the long run. You may not have noticed, but just by walking around the island, your speed has ever-so-slightly increased. With fact that in mind, what results do you think could be produced from jumping around or even full-blown running?” Goku unveiled the steady improvement Sokka’s has been undergoing. 

“More agonizing pain than before?” Sokka snorted disingenuously. 

“I’m being serious here, Sokka.” Goku scoffed back as his tail swished about in agitation. 

“That’s a first…” Sokka thought how weird it was for the typically goofy Goku to not take a joke. He audibly groaned, once again caving into Goku’s unexpectedly plausible reasoning. 

“Errrgh darn it all! Fine, I’ll try to catch the stupid llama! This is only, so I can give that Zuko guy a good butt whooping the next time we see him, though!” Sokka unveiled the primary goal of his training thus far. 

“I won’t stop you then.” Goku chirped, raising up his hands in mock surrender. He and Katara then huddled behind Aang, getting a closer look at three of the total five Hopping Llamas.

“So, here’s how it works. In order to mount a Hopping Llama, we need to be as quiet as humanly possible. Only then will we be able to sneak up behind them and jump on. The rest is pretty self-explanatory.” Aang whispered informingly. 

“Hang on and don’t fall off?” Goku guessed from what was previously explained. 

“Well, it’s bit more complicated than that, but pretty much, yeah!” Aang whispered back with a small, care-free shrug. Placing a finger over his mouth, he led the entire group in a series of silent tip-toes. 

“Easy does it, guys. Take small, tenuous steps, so they don’t take notice of yo—”

SMACK! CRUNCH!

Sokka accidentally fell face first into the sand, producing an extremely loud noise from the fallen rocks. Aang, Katara, and Goku all turned around to give Sokka the stink eye. 

“What did I just say?” Aang irritably asked. 

“Don’t blame me! It’s these stupid rocks!” Sokka indignantly defended his little misstep. The Goat Llama closest to Sokka immediately took notice of the sound Sokka made. Its black eyes dilated in unrepentant fury, showing that this particular llama was not one to be messed with. 

“Uh oh.” Aang gulped worryingly. 

“Uh oh? What do you mean by ‘uh oh’?” Sokka questioned why Aang was giving him a wide-eyed look of nervousness. 

Aang stared at the llama, recognizing the fact that it was swishing saliva around in its mouth. He took a slow, careful step back while Goku and Katara followed his example. 

“You might want to duck, Sokka. Like, right now!” Aang frantically warned. Sokka frowned confusedly, turning his head around to glance at the angry creature.

“Duck from wh—” Sokka trailed off in startlement. To his astute horror, the Hopping Llama gulped some excess saliva from the back of its throat in preparation to fire. 

“PTOOO!” the llama spat, shooting a ball of green, gelatinous goop straight into Sokka’s entire face. 

“““Ewwwwww!””” Aang, Katara, and Goku gagged in unified disgust. Sokka, in a prolonged state of shock, wiped away traces of saliva with his hands. 

“That… that thing just spit on me! First Appa, now this?! Ugggh!” Sokka cried in reactionary revulsion. Ignoring the strain of his weights, he performed a full-body examination via long, circular arm swings. 

“Yeah. They kind of do that when they feel threatened. Probably should have mentioned that. Whoops.” Aang apologized in joking sympathy. 

“You think?! Get it off of me, get it off!” Sokka pathetically screeched whilst flailing his arms around. Aang bent a stream of wind at Sokka’s face, blowing away the last remaining traces of llama spit. This accidentally blew out his wolf tail in the process. 

“Thanks…” Sokka grunted, straightening his hair back to normal. Afterwards, he noticed that the Goat Llama was scuffing one of its hooves against the sand. Its breaths were also more shallow and forced. 

“Now, what’s it doing?!” Sokka questioningly shouted out.

“Well, since that’s obviously a male, I think it might want to fight you as a show of pride.” Aang inferred from said llama’s aggressive nature. “So, I’d suggest you start running before… uh…”

Aang darted his eyes at the tips of the llama’s sharp, piercing horns.

“…you know.” Aang cryptically apprised to the 15-year-old nonbender. Regardless of the danger involved, Sokka was too overcome with anger to give up.

“Screw that! This overgrown koala sheep is going down!” Sokka snarled, roughly cracking his knuckles in ready to defend himself.

“Stop it, Sokka! This is idiotic even by your standards!” Katara concernedly lashed out. “Can’t you just knock it unconscious for a while, Goku?”

“Sorry, Katara. This is exactly what we were planning to happen anyways, so why stop it?” Goku soundly denied partaking in Katara’s suggestion. 

“I’m pretty sure getting himself killed wasn’t part of that plan!” Katara argued in concerning offense.

“Just let Sokka handle it. There’s nothing wrong with him wanting to fight his own battles for a change.” Goku said in a softer, more stern tone.

“He’s right, Katara. Goku’s not the type to let one of his friends get needlessly injured. That includes us as well.” Aang reminded Katara of Goku’s caring personality. Katara, thinking back to Goku’s fight against the Fire Navy soldiers, knew this claim to be somewhat true. 

“Fine. I’ll see how it goes.” Katara relieved her arguments for the time being. She helplessly watched from the sidelines as Sokka squatted down like that of an overweight sumo wrestler. 

“BAAAH!” the Hopping Llama bleated ferociously, stampeding straight toward Sokka’s abdominal area. Now taking full advantage of the rocks’ “padding”, Sokka temporarily succeeded in pushing the llama away with his bare hands. 

“Grrrrgh!” the son of Hakoda growled in anger. Before the Goat Llama’s horns could graze his skin, Sokka grabbed a hold of them and used both to propel himself onto its back. The fearsome llama did not appreciate the excessive weight of its so-called rider.

“BLAAAGH!” the Hopping Llama squealed painfully. It began bounding all across the island, attempting to throw Sokka off. 

“Ha! I’d like to see you spit on me NOWHOWOWAAAAH!” Sokka’s condescending insult was swiftly cut off by the llama jumping toward another rock structure. It then dashed from mountain to mountain, taking a screaming Sokka along for the bumpy ride.

“Welp, looks like it’s time to start!” Aang enthusiastically announced. He then airbent himself onto another llama’s back and brought along his staff just in case.

“You guys go on ahead. I’ll watch over Sokka using Nimbus!” Goku said, sprinting over to the magical cloud in question. Aang nodded in understanding. 

“Sounds good. You ready, Katara?” Aang asked the young waterbender. Katara timidly plopped herself on top of her own Hopping Llama. As she wrapped a single arm around the llama’s neck fur, Katara began to develop cold feet. 

“Uh, well, I might be having second—” The sound of her voice miraculously set the llama off, causing it to fly upward into practical orbit. Her braid frantically whipped around in mid-air. 

“…T-THOOOOOUGHTS!” Katara wailed in fear. Closely following after her, Aang kicked the side of his llama and, as a direct reaction, it shot up into the air like a recently deployed firecracker. 

“Hyahaha!” Aang laughed cheerfully. Once Aang, Sokka, and Katara departed into the extensive pathway of mountains, Goku hurriedly perched himself onboard Nimbus.

“Follow after them, Nimbus! And pick up the pace too.” Goku ordered the sentient cloud. Upon command, the Flying Nimbus speedily zoomed after its master’s three friends. After departing in a long, gray streak, Appa and Momo were left alone to guard the group’s belongings. There were also, much to Momo’s continuous irritation, two other llamas left on the island.

“Baah.” One llama called, taking a small bite of some leftover grass. Its fellow multispecies hybrid finally took notice of Appa and Momo, feeling reasonably confused, yet intrigued at the same time.

“Bah?” The llama questioningly cried, tilting its head to the side to better examine these strange, exotic species. 

“HIIIIIII!” Momo hissed in outward hostility. Increasingly annoyed by the lemur’s incessant hissing, Appa stood up to dangerously glower at both llamas. 

“GRRRRRRRAAAGH!” The Sky Bison roared crankily. Appa’s insanely loud cry scared the living daylights out of the Hopping Llamas and any creature living in a 10-mile radius. Their ears drooped to the side before simultaneously fleeing as a sort of instinctual fight-or-flight response. Once they vanished somewhere in the mountains, Momo calmed down considerably. 

“Chirichir…” Momo chirped in some semblance of gratitude. 

“Grrragh.” Appa grumbled, positioning his body away from the lemur, so he could get some much needed relaxation. 

Meanwhile, the enraged llama was persistent in ridding itself of Sokka’s overwhelming heaviness. As it bounced throughout the mountains’ cavernous pathways, it bucked its head upward and continually jumped great distances. It began to hop in a more sluggish, restrained movement, however, due to most likely experiencing some form of recoil from Sokka’s exerted pressure. Sokka tightly latched himself onto the Hopping Llama’s neck in a desperate attempt to not fall off. 

“Gaaah! I should have known this was going to be a bad idea!” Sokka fearfully regretted his prior decision to fight back. Highspeed winds encircling the mountain tops smacked against Sokka’s face, making him unable to completely grasp what was going on in front of him. 

“Woohoo!” the more enthusiastic Avatar whooped blissfully. His llama leaped from the mountains’ bottom portion to its top, managing to successfully dive onto a neighboring rock mass.

“Aaaaaah!” Katara wailed helplessly, trying her best not to look down. Her body was fully spread out along the llama’s spinal column as she clung on for dear life. The waterbender’s hair was also jutting out from physical exasperation and windy whiplash. 

“What do you think, Katara? This is pretty cool, huh?” Aang inquired, positioning his llama proximately next to hers. Katara squinted her sapphire eyes, trying her best to look at Aang without loosening her tight grip. 

“No offense, Aang, but I think I’d rather be penguin sliding again!” Katara yelled aloud, feeling that penguin sliding was a lot safer comparatively. 

“It takes some getting used to, yeah! Watch this!” Aang told Katara. With the use of airbending, Aang jumped from his llama to the geological wall and sprinted alongside it. A trail of dust was produced as he encircled the entire mountain with his staff in hand. Once he reached its peak, Aang forward somersaulted into the surrounding clouds and felt cold wind brush against his cheeks. Instantaneously, Aang opened up his glider and safely positioned himself back onto the same llama without another word. 

“That’s nice, Aang!” Katara complimented with a shakily placed thumbs up. As their llamas continued jumping abound in synchronization, the still struggling Sokka came into view. 

“Really?! Now you’re just showing off!” Sokka irritably called out. In response, Aang just shrugged absentmindedly.

“Hey. Being the last airbender has its positives.” Aang honestly defended his previous stunt. Sokka rolled his eyes and went back to fighting off the Hopping Llama he was currently seated on.   
Nearby, Goku rode Nimbus along the space in between each mountains. Nostalgically recalling his long past search for the Dragon Balls, Goku toothily giggled in pure, innocent enjoyment. He then spotted two other Hopping Llamas and had a sudden idea. 

“Go down there, Nimbus!” Goku ordered with a single point. The Nimbus Cloud loop-de-looped right next to both llamas, perfectly aligning Goku with their path. Goku then side-flipped onto one of the llama’s backs, riding it as said animal bounded atop various cliffsides. Nimbus rocketed behind its primary rider as he did so. 

The Saiyan of Earth then backflipped onto the second llama, continuing his momentum along each mountain. Strangely enough, none of the llamas seemed to either have much issue with or show any reaction to Goku riding them. 

“Yeah! Hahaha!” Goku chortled exuberantly. He then spun off the llama, landing back on Nimbus in a perfectly executed jump. In contrast with Goku’s amusement, Sokka began to experience some technical difficulties with his own mount. His body began to shut down on him out of long-dormant fatigue. Little by little, Sokka was unable to latch onto the Hopping Llama’s horns any longer. 

“No, no, no, no! I gotta keep holding on. Gotta keep—" Sokka convulsed in horror. With one last buck, Sokka, attached rocks and all, was helplessly separated from the Hopping Llama’s form. The animal, unlike Sokka, was immensely calmed by this development and went on its merry way. 

“Oh shoooooot!” Sokka bellowed fearfully. About to fall into the waters below, Aang quickly swiveled his llama around to garner Goku’s attention. 

“Goku! Sokka fell off his llama!” Aang cried out concernedly. Goku, noticing Sokka’s gradual increase in terminal velocity, nodded in determination. 

“On it.” Goku muttered. Gesturing to Sokka, the Flying Nimbus nosedived toward him at breakneck speeds. 

“Too fast! Too fast!” yowled Sokka as he succumbed to the effects of gravity. Since Sokka was unable to completely sit on the Nimbus cloud, Goku utilized his immense strength to grip the young warrior’s wrist. 

“I’ve got you, Sokka!” Goku relievedly noted. Sokka’s skin noticeably paled, realizing how close he was to experiencing a cold, watery grave. 

“Great. I might be spitting up something similar to that llama pretty soon.” Sokka woozily groaned. Goku, not wanting to hear that, stuck out his tongue in disgust. 

“Just don’t get it on Nimbus or, well, any part of me, really.” Goku cautiously advised. After managing to stop Katara’s llama, Aang and her rendezvoused with them from another mountain away. 

“I think this is a good time to head back, guys! Appa and Momo are probably waiting for us.” Aang considerably notified. Having enough “fun” for the time being, Sokka, Goku, and Katara wasted no time in agreeing with him. The four then went back to their island settlement with Nimbus and Hopping Llamas as respective transportation methods. 

After the remaining Goat Llamas left, all four kids prepared to depart for their journey’s next destination. All of their belongings were completely packed on Appa’s saddle while Katara attempted to fix up her disheveled locks. Goku was also checking on Sokka’s demeanor and physical progression. 

“Well, that was fun.” Aang pleasantly hummed. 

“Sure, apart from the fact that almost I sunk to the bottom of the ocean!” Sokka growled exasperatedly. He massaged his aching forearms and calves, each portion starting to take a simultaneous toll due to the weighted rocks. 

“Everything before then was still pretty good, though.” Aang sheepishly reiterated. 

“I don’t think I can agree with that, Aang…” Katara breathed exhaustedly. She held a hand over her head, attempting to relieve the stress of a splitting headache. 

“Oh yeah. Sorry you didn’t enjoy it that much, Katara.” Aang disappointedly apologized. Katara’s expression softened, not wanting Aang to feel bad. 

“It’s not that. I just think this should be a one-time thing. Emphasis on one.” Katara stated with a raise of her finger. 

“I guess that’s fair. We won’t be able to come back here for a long time anyways.” Aang truthfully summarized. 

“Speaking of that, can I take this “weighted clothing” off? I don’t want there to be a chance of Appa tossing me off either.” Sokka wondered, jerking a thumb at the lax Sky Bison.

“Hmmm since you were able to touch that llama without any trouble, I don’t see why not.” Goku allowed Sokka to take off the rocks. “Besides, we need to see if you can successfully push that boulder over there.” 

Following Goku’s finger, Sokka turned his head to glare at the boulder. 

“Right… the boulder.” Sokka grumbled in recognition. With Goku’s assistance, he untied the rocks along his arms and legs. 

Finally back to his normal weight, Sokka’s limbs quivered like limp noodles. He almost collapsed onto his backside, but stood up straight at the last second. 

“Woah. I feel a lot looser than usual.” Sokka quipped in amusement, flexing around his joints to test their overall dexterity. Goku was relatively pleased with these small, yet monumental results. 

“Looks like the extra weight works then. It’ll take a long time for the actual effects to set in, but still impressive.” Goku commended Sokka’s progress in the first step of chi training. 

“Let’s see how you do.” Goku said, folding his arms interestedly. Sokka spat at his palms and forcefully rubbed them together. Aang and Katara attentively observed Sokka’s attempt, also interested in seeing how he would perform. 

“You’ve got this, Sokka. Push the rock and you’ll get stronger.” Sokka mentally amped himself up. After taking a deep breath, Sokka ran toward the boulder and pushed with all his might!

“Harrghh!” Sokka loudly seethed. He outstretched both hands on the rock and kept pushing in a frontal position. After a few seconds, the rock slowly rolled around and left an indented path in the sand. Unfortunately, after rolling about three or so feet, it abruptly stopped. 

“Eh? That’s it?!” Sokka gaped in disappointment. He then leaned against the boulder once more, but no matter how hard he tried, it wouldn’t budge. 

“Did it even move?” Aang asked, kneeling down to inspect the boulder’s path. 

“Well, on the bright side, Sokka did manage to push it.” Katara positively reminded everyone that her brother, in a way, did accomplish Goku’s goals. 

Sokka, bruised and mentally broken, slumped his shoulders in embarrassment. 

“Can we just leave now?” Sokka whimpered in defeat. Goku, after picking up the rocks and rope, sympathetically patted Sokka on the back. He didn’t have the heart to, yet again, reveal that this training would get worse from here on. 

“No problem! Elephant Koi, here we come!” Aang gleefully cheered. After setting Momo on Appa’s saddle, Aang then prepared to fly said bison off the island. 

“I thought you didn’t know where they were?” Katara recalled as she took a seat. Sokka slowly followed after her while Goku climbed on board the Flying Nimbus a second time. 

“Uh… well… I don’t. But, since we’re near the ocean, they can’t be too far away!” Aang presumed that the Giant Koi Fish would be found fairly soon. 

“Almost dying, pushing a rock only one foot, and now flying without any set direction… can this day get any worse?” Sokka listed off the detrimental things that recently happened to him.

“Don’t forget the llama spit.” Katara giggled at her brother’s expense. 

“Grrrgh…” Sokka heavily sighed, slamming his head on the saddle’s railing. 

“Hehe. Yip-yip!” Aang gave Appa the signal to start flying. With that, the last remaining Sky Bison slapped his tail against the beach and ascended into the heavens above. Goku trailed behind the elemental creature, attempting to locate another island home to enormous fish.


End file.
